©Daan Verhoost via Unsplash
A couple of hikers were attacked by a herd of cows on a mountain meadow in eastern Tyrol.
The 67-year-old woman died from her injuries at the scene. Her 65-year-old husband was seriously injured and taken by trauma helicopter to a hospital. He could not yet be questioned.
The victims are 2 Austrian nationals who were hiking in an area they knew well. It is unclear whether or not they were walking too close to the animals.
The incident took place in Oberlienz in East Tyrol. Dozens of cows belonging to different farmers were grazing in the area, according to police. The couple did not have a dog with them. This is important information for the investigation since dogs can sometimes cause chaos in a herd, especially when there are little ones and the cows consequently want to defend their young. Therefore, there is always a call to keep dogs on a leash and keep a distance from the cows. There are often warning signs on and around these mountain meadows to alert hikers to the presence of grazing cows. Police are investigating exactly what happened in this case.
For now, it is not clear what caused the chaos in the herd of cows. Presumably more will become clear once the seriously injured man will be able to be questioned.
In September 2025, an 85-year-old man died after being attacked by cows. He was hiking with his wife and a dog when he was attacked by a herd of cows near Ramsau am Dachstein in the Austrian Alps.
©Daan Verhoost via Unsplash - illustration image