Grizzly bear that's believed to have dragged cyclist, 65, from tent and killed her is shot dead after trying to rip a homeowner's door off

Montana wildlife officials believe they fatally shot the grizzly bear that dragged a cyclist out her tent at a Montana campsite and killed her early Tuesday morning. 

The same grizzly is believed to have ripped a door off an Ovando, Montana-area woman's home and left large claw marks on her house late Thursday night, Powell County Sheriff's Office said. 

Hours later - shortly after midnight Friday - Montana wildlife officials lured the bear to a baited trap with a chicken coop, staked it out with night vision goggles and shot it dead.  

'Based on the size of the bear, the color of the bear and the nature of the chicken coop raids, we're confident we've got the offending bear,' said Greg Lemon with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. 

Lemon said tracks found at the site of the coop also matched tracks found in Ovando, where Leah Davis Lokan, 65, of Chico, California, was found dead. 

Investigators have obtained DNA from the bear at the scene of the attack which will be compared to samples taken from the bear after it was shot. 

Both samples were sent to a testing facility where officials hope to make a positive ID within the next couple of days, Powell County Sheriff's Office said. 

A bear trap set by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in the camping area in Ovando, Montana, where they ultimately shot and killed the bear the mauled a California woman to death

Leah Lokan, 65, was killed during a bear attack while camping in Ovando, Montana

Powell County, Montana Sheriff's Office Facebook update on Friday 

Lokan was on a long-distance bicycling trip and stopped to camp in Ovando, a small town in Western Montana with a population of less than 70 residents. 

It's known for its wilderness and scenic views along the banks of the Blackfoot River. The region is home to an estimated 1,000 grizzlies. 

The quiet solitude that Lokan and two fellow bicyclists were hoping to get was shattered when a 400-pound grizzly made two stops through their campsite Tuesday morning. 

The first time, the bear woke up the campers around 3am, took food out of their tents, secured it and went back to sleep. 

Surveillance video from a business in town showed the bear about a block from the post office about 15 minutes later. 

Around 4:15am, the sheriff's office received a 911 call after two people in a tent near Lokan's campsite who were awakened by sounds of an attack, Powell County Sheriff Gavin Roselles said. 

The fellow campers used bear spray to force it to flee - but not before it left Lokan with fatal injuries. 

Lokan was an avid bicyclist who was traversing the scenic Great Divide Mountain Bike Route when she died. In 2015, she won the 'Women's Enduro 60+' category in the Mammoth National Championship Enduro, CBS News reported. 

Lokan, a registered nurse who had worked at a hospital in Chico, 'had a really good spirit,' Mike Castaldo, president of the Chico Cycling Club said. 

'She always had a smile on her face. Always lit up when she saw you. Always gave you a big hug,' said Castaldo, who knew Lokan for about 15 years. 

'But I think most of her identity was, you know, outside on the bike, enjoying the outdoors was her thing.'  

Lokan, a registered nurse who had worked at a hospital in Chico, had looked forward to the Montana bike trip for months, her friend

Officials said the grizzly bear that killed Lokan weighed about 400 pounds (file photo)

A helicopter from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks flies around the Ovando area on Tuesday in search of a bear that killed Lokan. They found it and killed it Friday

The Powell County Sheriff's Office announced on Facebook that they're looking for the bear

After she was attacked, first responders and a helicopter ambulance arrived at the scene and attempted to save Lokan's life, but were unsuccessful. 

The bear is believed to have entered a chicken coop in town that night and ate several chickens.

They couldn't find the large bear until Friday when he was lured to an area near the scene of the attack by a bait trap set up by wildlife officials. 

Ovando saloon owner Tiffanie Zavarelli said it was the first fatal bear attack she knew of in the community.

'Everybody's pretty shaken up right now,' Zavarelli said, according to CBS News. 'The people from Montana, we know how to be "bear aware." But anything can happen.' 

Lokan had looked forward to the Montana bike trip for months, her friend Mary Flowers said.  

Lokan had taken previous long-distance bike trips and on this one was accompanied by her sister and a friend, Flowers said.

'She loved these kind of adventures. A woman in her 60s, and she's dong this kind of stuff -- she had a passion for life that was out of the ordinary,' Flowers said.

She rode for the Chico Cycling Team, Women on Wheels and spent time volunteering with Chico Velo, according to the Chico Enterprise-Record.  

Grizzly bears have run into increasing conflict with humans in the Northern Rockies over the past decade as the federally protected animals expanded into new areas and the number of people living and recreating in the region grew. 

That has spurred calls from elected officials in Montana and neighboring Wyoming and Idaho to lift protections so the animals could be hunted.

Two months ago, a woman eaten by bears as she walked her dog, as a coroner said she died from 'perforating' neck wounds.

Laney Malavolta, 39, was identified four days after being killed while walking her two dogs near Durango, Colorado, on April 30.

Ovando, about 60 miles northwest of Helena, is a community of fewer than 100 people at the edge of the sprawling Bob Marshall wilderness that extends to the border of Canada. 

North of Ovando lies an expanse of forests and mountains, including Glacier National Park that stretches to Canada and is home to an estimated 1,000 grizzlies. It's the largest concentration of the bruins in the contiguous US.

This April 26, 2006 file photo, shows Jacobsen Creek, a tributary of the North Fork of the Blackfoot River near Ovando

A Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks helicopter lands in Ovando on July 6

Dona Aitken, an artist who lives about seven miles east of Ovando, said the bear's death would bring relief to the community. Aitken sees grizzlies occasionally and signs of them such as droppings and tracks, but hasn´t been bothered by them.

'Everybody recognizes this as really abnormal behavior to actually attack somebody sleeping in a tent in town,' she said. 'I think we still don't have a good answer for why he did that.' 

Fatal attacks are rare in the region. There have been three in the last 20 years, including Tuesday's mauling, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

In 2001, a hunter was killed by a grizzly with two cubs while he was gutting an elk at a wildlife management area west of Ovando. The three animals were shot and killed by wildlife officials days later.

Over the past 20 years, there have been eight fatal maulings of people by grizzlies from a separate population of about 700 bears in and around Yellowstone National Park. 

In April, a backcountry guide was killed by a grizzly bear while fishing along the park's border in southwestern Montana.

Bears that attack people are not always killed if the mauling resulted from a surprise encounter or the bear was defending its young. 

But the bear involved in Lokan's death is considered a public safety threat because of the circumstances of the attack, Lemon said.

One rider working on a seven-week trip appears unconcerned about any future incidents.

'We carry bear spray and keep our food in a bear-proof bag,' Jim Drake said. 'Bears are always a threat, but as long as we take precautions, we're not too worried. I think we're more likely to be hit by a car than attacked by a bear.'