Woman dies after being trampled by elk

KINGMAN, Ariz. (KPHO/Gray News) – A woman in Arizona has died more than a week after being trampled by an elk at her home, the Arizona Game and Fish Department said on Tuesday.

According to officials, the attack happened on the afternoon of Oct. 26 at her house in the Hualapai Mountains.

Authorities said her husband was away at that time and found his wife on the ground in the back yard with severe injuries when he returned around 6 p.m.

There was a bucket of spilled corn nearby, which could be the reason the elk was there.

The husband called 911, and his wife was taken to the Kingman Regional Medical Center before going to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas.

The Game and Fish Department said the woman was put into a medical-induced coma. On Friday, she died.

The Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner ruled the death as an accident.

The Game and Fish Department said it believes this is the first deadly elk attack in Arizona. Officers with the agency went door-to-door after the attack warning people to not approach or feed elk in the area.

Feeding is one of the main reasons why wildlife gets violent toward humans.

Game and Fish said in 2015, two kids were hurt when a food-seeking elk circled a picnic table where they were eating in the Hualapai Mountains.

In 2021, an elk severely injured a woman’s head after it got used to humans in Pine.

Copyright 2023 KPHO via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.