Mom and Neighbor’s Intense Battle with a Golden Eagle to Save 20-Month-Old After Vicious Attack!
Golden Eagle by Jesus Giraldo Gutierrez, Shutterstock
A golden eagle was euthanized in Norway after it attacked at least four people, including a toddler, during a series of incidents in early September. According to CBS News, the young bird repeatedly targeted humans over a five-day period, sparking concern in the region.
One of the victims was a 20-month-old girl who was playing on her family’s farm in the central Trøndelag region on September 7. The toddler was attacked multiple times while her mother and a neighbor attempted to fend off the bird, as reported by The Guardian.
The girl’s father, who was not present during the attack, recounted that the mother “jumped up and grabbed hold of” the eagle but had to struggle to free the child from its grip. “It came out of nowhere,” the father told NRK. The child was taken to a local hospital and required several stitches to treat her injuries.
Just two days before the toddler’s attack, a bicycle courier named Francis Ari Sture was assaulted by the eagle while hiking on a steep mountainside. Sture described being attacked five times over the span of 10 to 15 minutes. He told the AP that during the assault, he feared he might lose consciousness and that the eagle “would start to eat me.” Sture eventually reached safety and sought medical treatment.
On September 5, a woman named Mariann Myrvang was also attacked by the eagle. She recalled feeling “something big and heavy” land on her shoulders, forcing her to her knees. Her husband managed to fend off the bird using a fallen tree branch, and Myrvang was treated at a hospital afterward.
Following the attacks, Kåre Vinterdal, a game warden in Orkdal, confirmed to VG newspaper that the eagle was euthanized after the incident involving the toddler. Alv Ottar Folkestad, an eagle expert with BirdLife Norge, told the AP that the bird likely had a “behavioral disorder,” noting that its actions were “radically different from normal.”
Golden eagles are known for their hunting prowess, with the ability to reach speeds of up to 120 miles per hour during a dive. While they can be used for hunting large animals like deer, attacks on humans are extremely rare and unusual.
