Woman dies a week after apparent elk attack in Arizona

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A woman died Friday at a Las Vegas hospital a week after she was apparently trampled by an elk in the mountains near Kingman, Arizona, officials said.

The woman, who has not been identified, was found on Oct. 26 by her husband in the backyard of their property in the Pine Lake community in the Hualapai Mountains, according to a news release from the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD).

The man said he “found his wife on the ground in the backyard with injuries consistent with being trampled by an elk. He also observed a bucket of spilled corn nearby,” the news release said.

Authorities transported the woman to Kingman Regional Medical Center and then to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas. According to the woman’s husband, she was put into a medically induced coma due to the extent of her injuries.

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It’s believed to be the first death from an elk attack in Arizona. Five other attacks have been reported over the past five years in Arizona, according to AZGFD officials.

The Clark County coroner informed Kingman police of the death on Nov. 3. The death was ruled an accident.

“AZGFD officers went door to door in the Pine Lake community that evening, putting out more door hanger warning signs and two roadside warning signs advising people not to approach or feed elk,” according to the news release.

In 2021, three elk attacked a woman and her dog, breaking the dog’s back. Two visitors were kicked in the head and body by elk on separate occasions outside a Yellowstone hotel in 2018. Elk attacks have also been reported in Colorado’s Estes Park, a popular tourist destination outside Rocky Mountain National Park.

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