© PER KÅRE VINTERDALThe young golden eagle was put down after a child was attacked.
- That the eagle attacks people is so unusual that I have not found it mentioned before, if you disregard very old stories that have not been confirmed.
That's what golden eagle expert Alv Ottar Folkestad says in the nature conservation organization Birdlife.
He says that just one documented case of a golden eagle attacking a human would be a sensation. In the last week there have been four (!) cases.
- It seems incomprehensible that this could happen. Especially the attack on this child, he says.
On Saturday, a 20-month-old girl was attacked in Orkanger in Trøndelag .
According to Folkestad, the eagle can be scared if you get too close to it out in nature, but for a child to be attacked among several people in a courtyard is very strange.
He says the eagle was only one year old, and that it has not yet started hunting.
- There is no logic in what happened. It is a black hole. It is abnormal behaviour, he says.
Young eagles
Folkestad has seen images from all four attacks. According to him, all are made by golden eagles that have just come out of the nest.
They've only been out a month or two and there must have been four different birds. There is quite a large geographical distance between the attacks (see map further down in the case).
The first attack happened at Tyin last Tuesday.
Then Arvid Flæte filmed a golden eagle that attacked him, and that continued for over 20 minutes before it gave up. It was Sogn Avis that mentioned the case first.
Barely two days later, Francis Ari Sture was on his way down from the top of Glittertind, when he too got to taste the wrath of the golden eagle.
He did not see the eagle until it attacked. Suddenly he felt a thump in the back of his neck.
- I was very scared, the adrenaline went like that, says Sture to NRK.
The eagle then landed two meters away from him. Sture began to roar and wave his arms.
- It was just before my eye went. I was scratched quite a bit on the arm, but managed to throw it on the ground, says Sture.
He believes the eagle attacked six times, and that he eventually used the bag to defend himself.
© Francis Ari StureFrancis Ari Sture shows off the injuries he sustained after he was attacked by a golden eagle on his way down from Glittertind.
Got a deep cut in the back
A day later, approximately 250 km further north, Marianne Myrvang was attacked by a golden eagle as she was crossing the setra outside the cabin in Holtålen in Trøndelag.
- Something big and heavy landed on my shoulders. And I thought - what in the world is going on? Myrvang tells NRK.
She says the eagle fluttered, and that it became full of wings and feathers around her head.
- Then I went down on my knees, because I couldn't stand.
Suddenly the eagle was right in front of her.
© INGE MYRVANGBASKETAK: Mariann Myrvang suffered a cut on her shoulder and several wounds on her back.
Myrvang says it was very uncomfortable, and that she called for help.
Her husband brought a branch and managed to chase the eagle away. But it didn't fly far, it stayed on a rock outside the fence.
Myrvang sat again, with a deep cut.
The claws have gone quite far into the back, says Myrvang, who received penicillin and a tetanus shot at the hospital.
© INGE MYRVANGMariann Myrvang was attacked by an eagle in Holtålen in Trøndelag.
About 24 hours later, a golden eagle was euthanized in Orkland municipality.
The eagle had to pay with its life after it attacked a 20-month-old girl who was out playing .
- The eagle came out of nowhere and grabbed the little girl. Then the mother jumped in and grabbed hold of the eagle, but had to fight to get it to let go. A neighbor also had to help the mother and the little girl, says the girl's father.
THE ATTACKS HAPPENED HERE: Tyin on Tuesday, Glittertind on Thursday, Holtålen on Friday and Svorkmo on Saturday.
There were both adults and children out in the courtyard playing when it all happened.
The girl was put under anesthesia for a full check on the injuries, but everything seems to have gone well.
- It has been very traumatizing for the mother and the older siblings who were there when the attack happened, says the father.
I think it feels threatened
- It is pure aggressiveness. It has nothing to do with hunting. They do not regard humans as prey, says golden eagle expert Folkestad.
© ARNE FLATIN / NRKRECOMMENDS TESTING THE EAGLES: Alv Ottar Folkestad
He denies that the eagle attacks as a result of hunger.
He says the eagle can go after a big fish, a cat or a hare or a newborn lamb.
He says they won't bring a human with them.
- It will not be the hunting instinct that is triggered, he believes.
Possible joker
Folkestad says it should be checked if the eagle is sick. He calls it a possible joker after all the attacks.
- We have previously seen deviant behavior for sea eagles after cases of illness, he says.
- So the attacks can be caused by disease?
- It should at least be checked.
Do not shout and wave
So what should you actually do if an eagle comes at you?
- Try to get out of the situation. Don't provoke them, says Folkestad.
- There may be yearlings who are not really capable of flying, or who sit and are unsure. If you go against it, you can trigger an attack, he explains.
You must absolutely not shout and wave.
- It probably doesn't make sense to calm the creature that is in an attack position, says Folkestad.
(Translated by Google)
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