HomeSpainA mountain goat pushed a tourist off a 20-meter cliff

A mountain goat pushed a tourist off a 20-meter cliff

A Dutch tourist was attacked by an Iberian mountain goat while hiking in the Alpujarra hills in Granada, southern Spain. As a result of the incident, the traveler fell from a 20-meter cliff. She survived but was seriously injured.

The incident occurred when the animal pounced on a 64-year-old woman who was traveling in the company of two Belgians. The tourist was the least lucky – the goat chose her for attack and pushed her off a cliff. The tourist fell on the ledge and therefore survived, but was injured – both wrists were broken. However, this was only the beginning of a nightmare for the group of tourists, as the animal also attacked the rest of the hikers. One of them fainted.

After some time, a local shepherd found two wounded Belgians and called a rescue helicopter to take them to the nearest hospital. The search operation was temporarily suspended due to bad weather, but later it was possible to resume the search for the woman. When the tourist was discovered, rescuers had difficulty getting her off the ledge of the rock and taking her to the hospital due to weather conditions, so the victim spent the night in an abandoned farmhouse located nearby. The next morning, the Dutch tourist was taken to the hospital, where she was treated for hypothermia and two broken wrists.

Experts noted that currently in the Spanish region, mountain goats are in the breeding season, as a result of which they are becoming particularly aggressive. At this time, the dominant male goat protects his herd from external threats, and it is possible that the mountain goat considered the three travelers a threat, because they invaded his territory. With the development of tourism in the area, contact between Spanish mountain goats and people is becoming more frequent, experts said.

Background: The Pyrenean mountain goat is a species of goat from the hemi-horned family that lives in the mountainous regions of the Pyrenees and other mountain ranges of Europe. Externally, it has a compact build with short legs and long, curved horns in both sexes.

Adults reach a length of approximately 110 to 130 cm. Goats have long, backward-curving horns that can reach a length of up to 30 cm. Females have shorter and straighter horns. Pyrenean mountain goats prefer to live in rocky mountain areas with rocky streams, rocks, and bushes. They have hooves adapted to mountain conditions, which allows them to move on steep and uneven surfaces.

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