Wild goat pushes female tourist, 64, off a cliff while hiking in Spain

A wild mountain goat pushed a Dutch female tourist off a cliff before attacking her two friends – knocking one unconscious – after they hiked into its territory in Spain.

The aggressive ibex charged at the 64-year-old woman and pushed her off the steep cliff’s edge, sending her plummeting 20 metres downwards before she landed on an overhanging ledge.

The Dutch woman, who has not been named, broke both of her wrists in what could have been a fatal incident in the Alpujarra hills of Granada, southern Spain. 

The tourist had been travelling with two Belgian hikers, who became the next targets for the mountain goat on May 28. One of them was knocked unconscious in the attack, reports Murcia Today. 

A local shephard found the two injured Belgian tourists and a rescue helicopter was scrambled to take the hikers to a local hospital. 

The aggressive ibex charged at the 64-year-old woman and pushed her off the steep cliff’s edge, sending her plummeting 20 metres downwards before she landed on an overhanging ledge (file image of a Spanish ibex goat)

But the rescuers were unable to find the Dutch woman and paused their search operation at 9pm on May 28 due to bad weather.

Emergency services later managed resumed their rescue bid and managed to locate the woman.

But the bad weather made it too difficult to airlift the woman from the cliff’s ledge so the rescuers were forced to shelter her overnight in an abandoned farmhouse.

The next morning, the Dutch tourist was taken to hospital where she was treated for hypothermia as well as two broken wrists.

Experts said it is currently breeding season for the mountain goats in the Spanish region, meaning the Iberian ibex are particularly aggressive at this time.

The peak birthing period for the Spanish mountain goats is in mid-May, meaning that with youngsters now in the herd, the adult animals are much more protective. 

There is usually a dominant male goat which defends its herd from any outside threats – and experts believe that the ibex could have felt cornered and threatened by the three hikers.

Spanish mountain goats are coming into contact with humans more frequently due to a rise in tourism in the area.