Making sense of a mauling: Fatal grizzly attack focus of new report

<p>Roughly one year ago, Leah Davis Lokan was mauled to death in her tent by a 4-year-old male grizzly. The tragedy made international headlines and sparked conversations about how humans and bears can coexist.</p> <p>Two hundred years ago, grizzly bears dominated the Montana landscape. But today, people have taken that throne and relegated the animal to a fraction of its former range. But the bears - backed by legal protection and decades of recovery effort - have begun reasserting themselves, in some cases wandering through areas they haven’t been spotted in for decades. The slow expansion has led to <a href="https://missoulian.com/grizzlies-and-us/article_4ea3f447-1c2d-5e69-96b7-18f50af0e62b.html">an increase in bear conflicts</a> that run the gamut in severity - trash can rummages, chicken coop break-ins, attacks on large livestock, fatal human maulings. And as both human and bear populations continue to swell, experts say the number of conflicts will grow as well. </p> <p>On this episode, Missoulian Reporter Josh Murdock and Missoulian Editor Rob Chaney, discuss a recently-released report that focuses on the fatal mauling of Leah Lokan, and what the incident means for our relationship with grizzly bears in the West.</p><p>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.</p>