Police said the 67-year-old woman was attacked by “a medium-sized herd that had a double-digit number of cows” while hiking in East Tyrol. The animals were on a marked pasture in the village of Oberlienz, Bayerischer Rundfunk radio reported.
Immediately, the cows attacked her 65-year-old husband. The exact course of the attack is still being investigated, the local police said. According to information, there were dozens of cows from several farmers on the pasture.
The woman died on the spot, her husband was taken by helicopter with serious injuries to a hospital in Innsbruck.
According to the first results of the investigation, the dog the couple had with them did not play any role. Cows sometimes react to these animals, especially when they want to protect their young, by attacking dogs. Due to such incidents, the authorities and farmers repeatedly recommend caution.
An 85-year-old man recently died in Austria after being attacked by a cow. In September 2025, he was out with his wife and dog when he was attacked by a herd of cows in Ramsau am Dachstein. In the summer of 2024, a woman who had two small dogs with her was attacked and killed by a herd of cows while hiking in the province of Salzburg.
After the 2014 attack, the Austrian government issued an advisory that tourists should stay away from herds in mountain pastures and keep their dogs on a lead. In the event of an attack, however, they are to be released.
