Two people were killed after being trampled by a camel at a Texas farm on Saturday afternoon.
Peggye McNair, the 72-year-old owner of Camel Kisses Ranch in Wichita Falls, and Mark Mere, 53, were found dead in an animal pen at around 2:30 p.m., the Wichita County Sheriff's Office told the Times Record News.
"A large aggressive camel was in the area as well and it took deputies several minutes to move it to another location. It appears that both victims were trampled by the camel," the sheriff's office said.
Mere entered a fenced area at the farm that contained one male camel and two females to take care of the animals' water that had frozen over, Wichita County Sheriff David Duke told KFDX.
The male camel exhibited aggressive behavior and charged towards Mere, who tried but failed to get out of the pen, Duke said. McNair tried closing the gate, but the camel overpowered and killed both victims.
All three camels were acting aggressively when police arrived, according to KFDX.
A Tarrant County coroner is to perform an autopsy, the Times Record News reported.
McNair was a former vice president of American National Bank who got into the camel raising business through her late husband and operated Camel Kisses Ranch.
Her family gave permission for game wardens to put the male camel down.
