Terrifying reason camper was mauled to death by bear that dragged her from tent breaking neck and severing spine

WILDLIFE officials have determined the terrifying reason an elderly woman was dragged from her tent by a bear and mauled to death.

Leah Davis Lokan, 65, was camping last year in Montana when a 417lb grizzly that had learned to seek human food targeted her, breaking her neck and severing spine

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Lokan, a retired nurse from California, encountered the bear an hour before she was fatally attacked but decided to stay at the doomed campsite.

The bear first approached the tents of Lokan and a Texas Couple who were camping behind a museum in the small town of Ovando.

At about 3am, Lokan realized what was happening and yelled: "Bear, bear," prompting Kim and Joe Cole to exit their tent and help make noise, according to the incident report by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee's Board of Review.

Kim and Joe had bear spray, but they managed to scare off the beast without using it.

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Lokan hauntingly told the couple, "the bear huffed at my head," before grabbing food that was near her tent and moving it about 30 feet away.

The Texas couple asked Lokan if she would like to stay the night in a hotel, but she refused.

They all returned to their tents until the Coles were awoken by horrifying noises at around 4am.

Joe realized that Lokan was being attacked, despite not hearing her yell out.

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The couple yelled "bear, bear!" and deployed bear spray after seeing the beast "pouncing up and down" on Lokan and her tent.

But it was too late, as an autopsy found the grizzly severed her neck and spine causing instantaneous death.

Investigators later found a nearly empty can of bear spray under her tent that appeared to have been recently deployed.

While Lokan moved some food away from her tent, investigators found a bag with dried blueberries in her tent as well as a saddlebag with food right outside her tent.

Outdoor officials confirmed that the bear that mauled Loken to death was shot and killed three days later while raiding a chicken coop.

The bear was four to seven years old.

"Not all bears exhibiting food-conditioned behavior exhibit predatory before," the report reads.

"But for some unknown reason a predatory response was triggered in this bear.

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"While foraging under the cover of darkness in Ovando, perhaps due to a simple movement made by the sleeping victim, or a certain sound made by the victim, the bear reacted and ended up taking the like of Ms. Lokan."

Wildlife officials said: "food and toiletries inside and near the tent as well as food scene left behind from 4 July picnic celebrations prior to the attack were likely contributing factors," to the bear's attack on Lokan.