A grizzly bear has mauled a cyclist to death in a remote campsite in the early hours of the morning, sparking a major hunt.
The victim - a woman who has not yet been named - was on a cycling trip and had stopped to camp for the night when she was killed, it has been reported.
The village of Ovando, Montana, USA - home to less than 100 people - has been left shaken by the attack on Tuesday, which happened between 4am and 5am.
The animal, which can grow over 9ft tall, had previously wandered onto the site before returning, according to police.
Powell County Sheriff Gavin Roselles said: "There was an earlier contact with the bear prior to the event.
"The bear basically came back into the campsite. It wandered into a campsite a couple different times."
Grizzlies who attack humans are usually put down, with a search now underway to find the rogue responsible.
Rosalles has shut down camping spots in the area until the bear is found or confirmed to have moved away.
"We've conducted both air operations and ground searches to attempt to locate the bear, with no success at this time," he added, reports CNN.
Greg Lemon, a spokesperson with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said: "Our first concern is the community's well-being. The next step is to find the bear."
Earlier this year, a 40-year-old man in Montana was seriously injured by a grizzly bear "defending a food source", but managed to call for an ambulance.
The 2019 Montana state grizzly bear advisory committee has warned such attacks will continue to increase as populations recover and expand into areas previously unoccupied by the animals for decades.
Tuesday's attack occurred in a part of the state sectioned off as a "recovery ecosystem" for brown bears, currently classified as threatened under the Endangered Species Act there.
The most recent estimates say 1,029 bears are currently in this ecosystem.
