Two children were injured recently when they encountered elk in a park near Kingman, and the Arizona Game and Fish Department says people who feed wildlife are believed to be the cause of the incident.
A herd of elk encircled a family sitting at a picnic table at Hualapai Mountain Park. One child suffered a bloody nose and other minor injuries, while another received a bump on the head. The family was not feeding the animals, but Game and Fish says in a news release that past behavior by the public was clearly the cause of the elk's behavior.
The park superintendent says the situation could have turned out much worse, as elk are large, wild animals, yet some people continue to treat them like pets.
In 2007, two elk got trash-can lids stuck on their necks (pictured), which prompted the park to use a different type of lid and post signs not to feed wildlife.
Feeding wild animals is illegal in Arizona, but the law applies only to Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties since they have populations of 280,000 or more.
Game and Fish says the best way for people to see or help wildlife is to plant native vegetation. Chips, pretzels and other snack foods can sicken the animals or prevent them from digesting vegetation. That happened at the Grand Canyon in 1995, when two dozen starving deer had to be killed after becoming hooked on junk food.
For more information about how to responsibly interact with wildlife, click here.
Photo: An elk with a trash-can lid stuck on its neck in 2007. | Courtesy of Arizona Game and Fish Department