Colorado boy, 4, attacked by an elk in Estes Park - the second such attack in less than a week

A cow elk attacked a 4-year-old boy at the Stanley Park playground in Estes Park on Monday afternoon, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said on Tuesday. This is the second cow elk attack on a young child in less than a week in Estes Park.

In Monday's incident, a family member scared the elk off the boy and took him to a hospital, where he was treated and released, according to CPW.

Wildlife officers say two elk cows were hidden nearby in a rock area and that families playing in the park didn't see it until the attack. When a CPW officer responded, they found two cow elk and a calf in the area. The officer didn't know which cow elk was responsible for the attack and hazed both cows using non-lethal bean bag rounds, CPW said.

The elk ran off to another location and the playground has been closed indefinitely as a precaution. CPW officers placed signs in the area warning people about aggressive elk.

Kara Van Hoose, a spokeswoman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said there's no reason to believe the children were a problem. 

"In both of these circumstances, the kids were not disturbing the calves," she told CBS News Colorado. "They probably didn't know that the calves were even nearby, and the cow elk became aggressive towards the children. But luckily, in both of these cases, the kids are recovering well, and seem to be fine."

Van Hoose explained the cows are simply protecting their young.

"Bull elk will be very aggressive during the rut their mating season, and that's later in the fall. But this time of year, the late spring, early summer is calving season," she said. "This is something that's innate to them. That's just biology. So they just react. They can't think logically through situations. They don't really have emotions at that point. This is just a sense of 'something is threatening my child, I am going to protect them.'"

Locals were sympathetic to the families after the injuries to the children but are used to warnings about aggressive elk.

"They're usually docile. They could care less if we're here or not here," said local resident Jeff Schwartz. "It is very sad that we just can't get out of their way. But that's a hazard of humans coming in contact with wildlife."

"There's certain areas where you just steer clear of," Christine Schwartz said.

Visiting from Minnesota, Matt Hagfors and his family had yet to see any of the elk they had hoped to see. But they understood the risk.

"This is what happens when people and wildlife mix together and people need to learn to keep their distance," he said.

In last week's attack, a cow elk charged an 8-year-old girl riding her bike from 60 yards away. CPW called that attack "unusual" and officials are "fairly certain" that was a different cow elk than the one responsible for Monday's attack.

That girl was also taken to the hospital and released the same day.

Estes Park is about 65 miles northwest of Denver and is immediately adjacent to the east of Rocky Mountain National Park. It's known for a sizable elk population at certain times of year, which can often be seen in town or in nearby communities. Cow elk can grow to between 500 and 600 pounds, and stand at an average of 4.5 feet at shoulder height.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect the number of elk in the area when the attack occurred and when wildlife officers responded.