Elk Attacks Woman At Yellowstone

A Marysville, Calif., woman taking an after-dinner stroll near Mammoth suffered minor injuries in a fall into a sinkhole after she was charged by a bull elk, park officials said.

They said the woman, who requested that she not be identified, was walking after dark Sunday evening without a flashlight. She inadvertently came between a bull elk and a group of female elk, officials said.

The bull charged the woman, who climbed a fence surrounding a sinkhole, park officials said. She fell about 20 feet into the sinkhole and was able to call for help to her companion, who was a short distance behind her.

Park rangers used a winch to raise the woman to the surface. She was treated and released from the Livingston (Mont.) Memorial Hospital.