Bird killed with wood Eagle attacks toddler and probably other people

The bird of prey apparently targeted a total of four people within a week. A bird expert has a guess as to why the animal was so aggressive.

A young golden eagle has attacked and injured a little girl in Norway. The 20-month-old child was reportedly playing in the municipality of Orkland in the south of the country on Saturday when the bird attacked her. The girl's father told broadcaster NRK that her mother and a neighbor rushed over to fend off the eagle. The bird of prey struck three times before it was killed with a piece of wood, according to bird expert Alv Ottar Folkestad.

According to the father, the child had to be stitched up and also suffered scratches to its face. The newspaper "VG" reported that the girl had been injured just below one of her eyes, among other things.

Several people attacked at once

According to Folkestad, the toddler was probably not the bird's only victim. In the past week, the animal had probably attacked a person four times in the mountainous south of Norway. The golden eagle "probably had a behavioral disorder", Folkestad from BirdLife Norge told the AP news agency on Monday. The attacking bird was probably a female that was born this year.

Mariann Myrvang, who is said to have been attacked on Wednesday, told NRK that she screamed for help when "something big and heavy" landed on her. "I went to my knees because I couldn't get up." Her husband chased the bird away with a branch. The bird is said to have clawed deep into the skin of the victim, who is said to have received an antibiotic and a tetanus shot in hospital.

Scratched on the face and arms

Golden eagles are common in Norway and are the second largest species of bird of prey there. They normally eat smaller animals as well as foxes and sheep. The birds can be up to 93 centimetres long, with a wingspan of around two meters. Females can weigh up to five kilos.

On Thursday, a 31-year-old man was attacked. According to Francis Ari Sture, he initially thought that someone was trying to push him down the steep mountainside. Then he saw the golden eagle, Sture told the AP. The bird attacked him five more times. The man said he was scratched on the face and arms for ten to 15 minutes as he sprinted down the mountain.

dpa