Golden eagle claws little girl – mother bravely pounces on him

In Norway, a mother had to “fight” with a huge bird of prey. The animal already had her one-year-old daughter in its claws.

Trøndelag – A moment of shock for the mother of a little girl: Out of nowhere, a golden eagle pounced on the child in Norway and tried to carry her away. The news channel NRKOnly with combined forces could the bird of prey ultimately be repelled.

“The mother had to fight”: Golden eagle wants to carry away little girl

The 20-month-old girl was playing in the yard of a small farm in central Norway when the bird suddenly swooped down on her from the air and grabbed her. “The eagle appeared out of nowhere and grabbed our youngest daughter,” the father told Norway's public news broadcaster. The father himself was not present at the time of the incident.

The mother reacted quickly and intervened, the report says. But even then the golden eagle did not let go of the girl. Although the mother initially managed to push the animal to the side, the next moment the animal returned and grabbed the one-year-old again. “The mother had to fight to get the eagle to let go,” the report quotes NRK the father.

Only when a neighbor rushed to help was the bird of prey able to be chased away. The girl was then taken to hospital and had to have stitches on the back of her head, as NRK reported. It also had scratch marks on its face and neck. “The eagle's claw was two centimeters from the girl's eye,” said game warden Per Kare Vinterdal, who eventually caught the animal and put it to sleep.

This fate usually also befalls dogs that attack people, as was recently the case in Hamburg.

Incident astonishes: Golden eagle attacks on humans extremely unnatural

After the sea eagle, golden eagles are among the largest birds of prey of their species and are also found in Germany. According to the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), their bodies are between 79 and 95 centimeters long and their wingspan can reach up to two and a half meters. According to experts, attacks on humans are extremely unusual.

The golden eagle feeds mainly on medium-sized mammals, other birds or carrion. While it primarily goes after rabbits, marmots or chickens, it also hunts animals that weigh significantly more than it does – such as ibexes or fawns. However, they would not be able to carry them away, as biologist Samuel Furrer from Zurich Zoo explains.