Arizona Woman Trampled to Death by Elk She Was Feeding

An Arizona woman did not survive after her husband found her in their backyard on the ground “with injuries consistent with being trampled by an elk,” according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD).

The attacked happened in the Pine Lake community in the Hualapai Mountains on October 26, 2023.

According to Fox 10, the victim’s husband arrived home around 6 p.m. when he discovered his injured wife. Although there were no witnesses, investigators believe she was feeding the elk because her husband said he saw a bucket of spilled corn nearby.

After the husband called 911, his wife was transported to Kingman Regional Medical Center and then to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas where she was put into a medically induced coma and later died.

After the attack, an AZGFD officer began hanging signs around the neighborhood warning people to not approach or feed elk.

"This is believed to be the first fatal elk attack in Arizona. There have been five reported elk attacks in the state during the past five years. Feeding is one of the main sources of conflict between humans and wildlife. Fed wildlife becomes habituated to humans. For example, in 2015, two children suffered minor injuries after a food-seeking elk circled a picnic table from which their family was eating in the Hualapai Mountains. In 2021, an adult female received serious head injuries from an elk that was habituated to humans in Pine," AZGFD said.

The department asks people to not feed these animals and to keep them wild.