Wild goat pushes female tourist, 64, off a cliff while hiking in Spain
Feral goat pushes female tourist, 64, off cliff while hiking in Spain – then attacks terrified friend, knocking them unconscious
- The Iberian ibex attacked the Dutch tourist and pushed her off a cliff in Spain
- The woman suffered two broken wrists while her friends were also injured in the attack
A wild mountain goat pushed a Dutch female tourist off a cliff before attacking her two friends, knocking one unconscious after they wandered into its territory in Spain.
The aggressive ibex attacked the 64-year-old woman and pushed her off the edge of the sheer cliff, sending her plummeting 20 meters before landing on an overhanging ledge.
The Dutch woman, whose name has not been released, broke both her wrists in what could have been a fatal incident in the Alpujarra hills of Granada, southern Spain.
The tourist had been traveling with two Belgian hikers, who became the next target of the mountain goat on May 28. One of them was knocked unconscious during the attack, police said. Murcia today.
A local shepherd found the two injured Belgian tourists and a rescue helicopter was deployed to take the hikers to a local hospital.
The aggressive ibex attacked the 64-year-old woman and pushed her off the edge of the sheer cliff, causing her to plummet 20 meters before landing on an overhanging ledge (file image of a Spanish ibex goat)
But the rescuers couldn’t find the Dutch woman and stopped their search at 9 p.m. on May 28 due to bad weather.
Emergency services later managed to resume their rescue attempt and were able to locate the woman.
But the bad weather made it too difficult to get the woman off the edge of the cliff, so the rescuers had to spend the night in an abandoned farmhouse.
The following morning, the Dutch tourist was taken to hospital where she was treated for hypothermia and two broken wrists.
Experts said it is currently breeding season for the mountain goats in the Spanish region, meaning the Iberian ibex is particularly aggressive during this time.
The peak period for Spanish mountain goats to give birth is mid-May, which means that with young animals now in the herd, the adults are much more protective.
There is usually a dominant male goat defending his herd from outside threats – and experts believe the ibex may have felt cornered and threatened by the three walkers.
Spanish mountain goats are increasingly coming into contact with humans due to an increase in tourism in the area.