Near Salzburg in Austria, a hiker died after being charged by a herd of cows.
A 40-year-old hiker in the Austrian Alps died after being charged by a herd of cows. His two daughters were also injured in this rare incident, police announced this Thursday, June 27. Originally from the region, she was on an excursion on her birthday to the Gastein valley near Salzburg with two small dogs when the attack occurred.
On this occasion, rescuers once again alerted walkers to the dangers linked to the presence of dogs. “Cows, whose maternal instinct is highly developed, defend their calves” if they perceive a threat, they insisted, quoted by the APA news agency.
Similar events in the same region
The hiker died instantly, while her daughters, aged 20 and 23, managed to escape and call for help. They were taken by helicopter to hospital and were only briefly interviewed by investigators. “The circumstances of the tragedy remain to be clarified”a police spokeswoman told AFP.
In 2017, an Austrian woman walking with a friend and dogs in Tyrol was killed in a similar incident. Three years earlier, in the same region, a 45-year-old German holidaymaker walking with her dog was also trampled to death by a herd.
The event had caused great emotion in Austria and concern in the agricultural world. Especially since the farmer who owned the cow was ordered to pay damages to the victim’s family for not having fenced off the pastures. But a later judgment also highlighted the tourist’s responsibility and the amount was halved. The government subsequently published “a driving guide” for hikers, calling on them to stay away from herds and to keep their dogs on a leash but to unleash them in the event of an attack.
