Crazy eagle terrorizes Norway: it attacks a 20-month-old girl
Norwegian authorities announced on Friday that the golden eagle was shot dead last weekend.
After having previously attacked several people in several locations in Norway, the bird of prey violently attacked a 20-month-old girl. The girl was playing on her family farm in Orkland. "The eagle came out of nowhere and grabbed our youngest daughter," the father said. It was during this incident that the eagle was shot dead by a gamekeeper.
"Completely unprecedented and abnormal behavior": illegal breeding?
In an interview with NRK radio and television, Alv Ottar Folkestad, an ornithologist by profession, assured that this was "completely unprecedented behavior. You will not find anything about this in the literature". Fortunately, no victims suffered serious injuries. "It's quite unique to see such confrontations between golden eagles and humans, as we have observed in several places in Norway in recent weeks," said Susanne Hanssen, a directorate official.
According to several researchers, the raptor could have grown up in captivity, and been fed by humans. "To date, we have no other theory that explains the eagle's abnormal behavior," Hanssen stressed.
It's strictly forbidden to capture or raise wild animals in a domestic environment in Norway. In the country, golden eagles are the second largest raptors after white-tailed eagles, reports Midi Libre.
(MH with AsD - Source: Midi Libre - Illustration: Unsplash)