Two children sustained minor injuries at Hualapai Mountain Park after a herd of elk seeking food surrounded their picnic table last week.
Arizona Game and Fish spokesman Zen Mocarski said this is just a small part of a much bigger problem that led to a mountain lion killing two deer right in the driveways of Hualapai Mountain homes several years ago.
"People put out food for javelina, deer, elk, all these animals. What we can’t forget is that many of these are prey species, and so we can draw in predatory species behind them," Mocarski said.
Mocarski hopes that more awareness about the dangers will discourage people from feeding animals.
He’s asking Arizona residents to plant native vegetation for the wildlife instead of feeding them human food.