The Swedish residential area of Utby on the outskirts of Gothenburg was the scene of a bizarre assault recently when a local woman was sent tumbling in a seemingly unprovoked attack by an elk. The woman, who was walking her dog at the time, is said to be recovering well after the surprise attack according to news source The Local.
Monica Engstrom spoke to newspapers following the incident claiming the elk ran directly at her. “I didn’t have time to realise what was going on, it just came roaring across and kicked me down with its hind legs.” The assault occurred as Engstrom was enjoying her morning walk in the western town with her trusted companion Svennis. Engstrom advised that she was in the process of waiting for Svennis to finish his morning ablutions in her sister’s back yard when the elk attacked, emerging from the dawn darkness much to her and Svennis’s surprise.
“I was so scared I woke up the entire neighbourhood; they probably thought it was some sort of assault. And it was, except by an elk,” she explained. Engstrom claimed to suffer from a variety of pains and aches following the incident, including fears of a potential concussion. “I fell backwards and got a real kick to the head. It was like getting hit by a train or a tram”.
Engstrom has vowed to be more vigilant on future ventures as she remains disturbed by the hostility shown towards her by the elk, although some have suggested that Svennis may have been more of a reason for the attack.
“I’m not going outside in the morning, that’s for sure,” Engstrom stated, before adding: “If you ask me, wild animals should stay in the woods.”
Wow, you are correct. I did not know that. Just checked it out and found that yes, that animal was named elk by Europeans, and named moose in North America by Natives. The other animal is known as elk or wapiti. Same name different animals. I never knew.
@Robert – I think you must be from North America, as the use of “elk” and “moose” is different. I have always learned that moose is North American and elk is European.
It must be a translation error. The photo in this article, and all the links listed in the comments above, are showing the animal that in the English language is called a moose. Including the youtube video link posted above with the comment “a meeting with an big elk can be quite scary”. All are of a moose.
There really are large difference between deer, elk, and moose. Easily recognizable differences.
I thought you had realized this until the third comment was posted speaking of an elk but showing a video of a moose.
Just trying to clarify the nomenclature.
;-) – Back to topic – a meeting with an big elk can be quite scary…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzvcRYidcCU
Thank you for your observation, Øystein;Norway. Sometimes my own ignorance shocks even me!
In my defence though, all the animals labelled “elk” in our photo library (except the one I have now used for this post) seemed to be of the same deer-like animal previously seen. There is clearly a lot of elk education needed in this world.
Apologies for the inaccuracy and thanks (as ever) for reading IceNews!
Alex, editor
The illustration look more like a deer than an elk ;-).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose
As the animal is big (males ut to 600 kg+) and there is a lot of them i Scandinavia – 120 000 in Norway – 3-400 000 in Sweden + more in Finland and Russia, we need traffic sign for them.
http://www.jaktweb.no/uploads/images/nyheter/fare-for-elg-skilt.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose