A RAMPAGING sheep burst through an electric fence and brutally killed an elderly couple after reportedly escaping a nearby farm.
Helge and Gaye Hansen, both in their 80s, were found dead in a paddock in New Zealand on Thursday.
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It is feared Helge was attacked when he went to feed the animals they kept at their property in Waitakere
Gaye followed him to the paddock after not hearing back from him and was also ambushed by the ram, according to reports.
Helge’s ex-wife, Jan Hansen, told local outlet Stuff: “That ram must have been waiting for her to come through the gate, I reckon.
“Don’t think that animals can’t think. A male animal in mating season can be quite vicious.”
It is unclear where the “vicious” sheep had come from before the attack, but one resident claimed it must have been from a nearby farm.
The unnamed neighbour told The NZ Herald: “It’s sickening. They were lovely people just enjoying their retirement.
“They were in their 80s, he had bad knees, they had no time to get away.”
Gaye’s son from a previous marriage, Antony, discovered the pair when he checked on them after they didn’t respond for a couple of days.
He was also confronted by the aggressive animal and suffered injuries – likening ram horns hitting you to a “sledgehammer swinging at you at 60 to 80 miles an hour”.
The ram then tried to attack the police before they shot it dead at the scene.
Antony told RNZ: “It’s frickin full-on for both of them to get taken out … under such weird, crazy circumstances.
“You know the reality of ageing parents, but you don’t expect anything so radical.”
Anthony said he has found some comfort in the fact his dad was doing what he loved when he died.
He added: “He’s gone about the stuff he loved doing and it’s been over very quickly.
“That’s something to give us a bit more comfort – that dad didn’t suffer.”
Anthony claims that his father used to run a sheep warm and was always cautious around rams.
He believes Helge had been caught off guard because he would have never walked into the paddock otherwise.
“He’s an experienced sheep farmer. He knows the potential outcome with rams, as far as being pretty stroppy,” Anthony added.
Although ram attacks are rare with only 11 documented cases resulting in human death worldwide up to 2019, they can pose a serious risk to health.
Dr Lindsay Matthews, principal scientist for Matthews Research International, likened the wounds from rams to those of a car crash.
He said that these animals – that weigh up to 150kg – could charge at someone unexpectedly and at a great speed.
“Rams can butt other males very hard, then back up and charge each other, hitting with cross force on the front of the head,” Dr Matthews told RNZ.
“Unless you have your eye on them all the time, you can be hit quite suddenly.”
Animal behaviourist Mark Vette added that it is possible for rams to go rogue when they haven’t been socialised or have high levels of testosterone.
“It would be a very rare occasion for a ram to injure someone to that level, but where you can get knocked over and hurt is usually common,” he said.
The expert went on to explain that although dying at the horns of a ram is rare, getting cornered by the animal could pose a risk to people who aren’t physically able to run away.
The coroner has been notified of the elderly couple’s death.
They will be laid to rest on Wednesday in a joint ceremony.
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