A woman who went missing on a solo hike in Australia’s Snowy Mountains was found “dazed and injured” on Sunday, police said, after suffering a suspected snake bite while missing for nearly two weeks.
Lovisa Sjoberg, 48, was spotted by rescuers as she walked along a bush trail in Kosciuszko National Park, southwest of the capital Canberra, on Sunday afternoon.
New South Wales Police Superintendent Toby Lindsay said Monday she was “fortunate to be alive” after being bitten by a snake, potentially a copperhead. The venomous species can deliver a painful bite that can lead to death without medical attention.
“She advises that she was bitten by a snake approximately four days prior and had rolled her ankle and was dehydrated,” Lindsay said. “She’s in fact pretty fortunate to be alive and went through a pretty tough time.”
It’s not known how long Sjoberg was missing in the wilderness – she had last been seen driving a rented car on October 15.
Police only started investigating her whereabouts last Monday after the car rental company reported their vehicle had not been returned.
Officers tracked the car to Kiandra, a former gold mining town near the mountains, and investigated the theory that Sjoberg, an avid photographer and experienced hiker, had become lost in the wilderness when she set off on foot.
Police sent up helicopters, planes, and deployed search teams by road, on foot and horseback for six days before spotting her on Sunday.
The northern part of Kosciuszko National Park recently reopened to visitors after an annual closure during winter. The park was closed two months earlier this year to allow aerial culling of deer, pigs and wild horses, known as brumbies, in an effort to protect its alpine environment.
Sjoberg has an Instagram account dedicated to images of wild horses, and members of brumby advocacy groups expressed serious concern for her welfare on social media.
Plans by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to shoot brumbies from helicopters led to a failed legal bid to stop the cull this year.
The government said the cull was necessary to protect native plants and animals in the alpine wilderness, which are vulnerable to damage from large numbers of feral animals.
The Snowy Mountains are part of the Great Dividing Range, a mountainous region some 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) long, that contains some of Australia’s highest peaks. It’s popular with hikers and skiers who visit nearby resorts during the annual ski season.