A herd of 20 cows attacked and killed a German hiker on an Austrian mountain pasture, police confirmed Tuesday.
The 45-year-old woman was walking with her dog in the Stubai valley in Tyrol on Monday when 20 cows and calves ran towards her and trampled her to death, dpa reported.
'We assume that the cows really wanted to attack the dog out of maternal instinct,' said a police officer in the town of Neustift im StubaitalThe animals only moved away from the woman after her dog fled the scene and several passers-by rushed to her rescue.