94yo man killed by rampaging ram

A man has died after being attacked by an aggressive young ram in southwest France.

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The 94-year-old was found dead in a rural area near the town of Cestas, 17 kilometers south of Bordeaux, on Monday. AFP reports that a ram charged at the man, knocking him to the ground and trampling over him in a “frenzied attack,” according to local police.

The man was walking through a field to visit the sheep’s owner, a local farmer, when the attack took place. He was found dead at the scene by family members who went looking for him after he failed to return home.

The ram later attacked a local politician who rushed to the scene after hearing about the first incident. The woman was hospitalized, suffering bruising, Sud-Ouest reports.

The ram’s owner said his sheep was acting aggressively to protect the flock.

“He was playing the role of the dominant male because there were a lot of ewes… It was a young, one-year-old ram who is not at all aggressive, my daughter reared him by bottle," he said.

The sheep is expected to be euthanized shortly following the attacks.