CNN — An Arizona woman died eight days after an elk apparently trampled her outside her home in what is believed to be the state’s first fatal elk attack on a person, wildlife officials said Tuesday.
On October 26 at about 6 p.m., the woman’s husband arrived at their property in the Pine Lake community in the Hualapai Mountains to find her “on the ground in the backyard with injuries consistent with being trampled by an elk,” the Arizona Game and Fish Department said.
The man also noticed that a bucket of corn had been spilled nearby, the department said.
The man called 911, and his wife was transported to Kingman Regional Medical Center and then to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas. The husband told officers his wife had been put into a medically induced coma because of her injuries, according to the department.
The woman passed away on Friday, and the manner of death was determined to be an accident, the Clark County Coroner’s Office told the Kingman Police Department. The names of the woman and her husband have not been released.
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The game department learned about the attack from a local resident on October 27, and the next day an officer put door hanger warning signs on homes in the area advising residents not to approach or feed elk, the department said.
The officer going door to door saw elk tracks in the victim’s yard after speaking with her husband and other residents, the game department added.
The Arizona game department said:
“The public is urged to help keep wildlife wild.
“Wildlife that are fed by people, or that get food sources from items such as unsecured garbage or pet food, lose their natural fear of humans and become dependent on unnatural food sources. Feeding puts at risk the person doing the feeding, their neighbors, and the wildlife itself. Please do not feed wildlife.”
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