‘Behavioral disorder’: Why a golden eagle went on assault spree in Norway
A golden eagle is on an assault spree in Norway and the experts believe that it is because of a ‘behavioral disorder‘. According to the Associated Press, the eagle has attacked a toddler and three more people till now.
31-year-old Francis Ari Sture, who was attacked recently, said he initially thought he was being attacked by a human. Until he saw the golden eagle.
“We are staring at each other for, maybe, a whole minute,” Sture said.”I’m trying to think what’s in its mind.” he added.
The bird scratched and clawed his face and arms over 10-15 minutes as he tried to escape.
Three others, including a toddler, was also attacked by what is believed to be the same bird.
The golden eagle — common in Norway and the Scandinavian country’s second-largest bird of prey, with a wingspan of about 2 meters (6.5 feet) — typically eats smaller animals, as well as foxes and sheep. The toddler and the bird’s other victims needed stitches and medication for deep gouges. The bird was killed after the attack on the small child.
The golden eagle “likely had a behavioral disorder” that prompted the aggression, Alv Ottar Folkestad, an eagle expert with BirdLife Norge, told the AP on Monday.
What happened is “radically different from normal,” Folkestad said, adding that the attacks were likely all by a female eagle born this year.
“Details in the plumage make me believe it is the same bird. The plumage means that no two golden eagles are alike,” he said, adding that in the past days there were “favorable weather conditions” with high-altitude winds for the eagle to fly long distances over southern Norway.
In the most recent attack, a 20-month old girl was playing outside a farm in Orkland, a small municipality in the south, on Saturday when the eagle came “out of the blue” and clawed her.
The girl’s father, who was not there during the attack, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that the mother and a neighbor raced to fight the eagle. The raptor attacked three times before it was killed when hit with a piece of wood, Folkestad said.
In addition to Sture and the toddler, two other people have reported being attacked. One caught the incident on camera, while the other described a crushing weight as the bird swooped on her.
Mariann Myrvang, who was attacked on Wednesday, told NRK she cried out for help when “something big and heavy landed on my shoulders.”
“I went down on my knees, because I couldn’t stand up,” she said.
Armed with a branch, her husband chased the eagle away. The claws went deep into Myrvang’s flesh and she later received penicillin and a tetanus shot at the hospital.
Sture, the following day, tried using his backpack as a shield. He also kept pushing the bird down to his feet so he could kick it away from him. But no matter what he did, the eagle kept coming back.
Rushing down 50 meters (164 feet) of steep terrain covered in loose rocks, he panicked he’d slip. But falling unconscious was his biggest fear because the eagle potentially “would start to eat me.”
The eagle finally flew away, but Sture still had a two-hour hike to get to a campsite. He hadn’t packed a satellite phone, and cellphone service was spotty. He was able to call his father, and the closest hospital sent a taxi to pick him up.
He arrived covered in blood and exhausted, with a gouge just centimeters from his left eye that he captured in a selfie before leaving the mountain. The doctors credited his sunglasses and a long-sleeved shirt with saving him from worse injuries. After he received a tetanus shot, his brother drove him 6 hours home.
31-year-old Francis Ari Sture, who was attacked recently, said he initially thought he was being attacked by a human. Until he saw the golden eagle.
“We are staring at each other for, maybe, a whole minute,” Sture said.”I’m trying to think what’s in its mind.” he added.
The bird scratched and clawed his face and arms over 10-15 minutes as he tried to escape.
Three others, including a toddler, was also attacked by what is believed to be the same bird.
The golden eagle — common in Norway and the Scandinavian country’s second-largest bird of prey, with a wingspan of about 2 meters (6.5 feet) — typically eats smaller animals, as well as foxes and sheep. The toddler and the bird’s other victims needed stitches and medication for deep gouges. The bird was killed after the attack on the small child.
The golden eagle “likely had a behavioral disorder” that prompted the aggression, Alv Ottar Folkestad, an eagle expert with BirdLife Norge, told the AP on Monday.
What happened is “radically different from normal,” Folkestad said, adding that the attacks were likely all by a female eagle born this year.
“Details in the plumage make me believe it is the same bird. The plumage means that no two golden eagles are alike,” he said, adding that in the past days there were “favorable weather conditions” with high-altitude winds for the eagle to fly long distances over southern Norway.
In the most recent attack, a 20-month old girl was playing outside a farm in Orkland, a small municipality in the south, on Saturday when the eagle came “out of the blue” and clawed her.
The girl’s father, who was not there during the attack, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that the mother and a neighbor raced to fight the eagle. The raptor attacked three times before it was killed when hit with a piece of wood, Folkestad said.
In addition to Sture and the toddler, two other people have reported being attacked. One caught the incident on camera, while the other described a crushing weight as the bird swooped on her.
Mariann Myrvang, who was attacked on Wednesday, told NRK she cried out for help when “something big and heavy landed on my shoulders.”
“I went down on my knees, because I couldn’t stand up,” she said.
Armed with a branch, her husband chased the eagle away. The claws went deep into Myrvang’s flesh and she later received penicillin and a tetanus shot at the hospital.
Sture, the following day, tried using his backpack as a shield. He also kept pushing the bird down to his feet so he could kick it away from him. But no matter what he did, the eagle kept coming back.
Rushing down 50 meters (164 feet) of steep terrain covered in loose rocks, he panicked he’d slip. But falling unconscious was his biggest fear because the eagle potentially “would start to eat me.”
The eagle finally flew away, but Sture still had a two-hour hike to get to a campsite. He hadn’t packed a satellite phone, and cellphone service was spotty. He was able to call his father, and the closest hospital sent a taxi to pick him up.
He arrived covered in blood and exhausted, with a gouge just centimeters from his left eye that he captured in a selfie before leaving the mountain. The doctors credited his sunglasses and a long-sleeved shirt with saving him from worse injuries. After he received a tetanus shot, his brother drove him 6 hours home.
