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Attacks on humans by birds of prey, typically eagles, have been a part of worldwide culture and mythology for thousands of years. However, there are only a handful of cases that are considered by scientists to be authentic. Nevertheless, it has been proposed that eagle predation on human ancestors such as Australopithecus may have contributed to an instinctive human fear of flying predators. One famous Australopithecus fossil, the Taung Child, bears talon marks in its skull suggesting it was killed by a large eagle.
The species of eagle most commonly (though still quite rarely) implicated in attacks on humans is the African crowned eagle. In one case, a 7-year-old boy, of a weight of approximately 20 kg (44 lb), was ambushed by a crowned eagle, who gouged its talons through the boy's throat and chest. The boy only survived because the eagle was killed by a passing farmer. A subsequent search of a nearby forest showed that there was not a nest in the area, so the attack was almost certainly predatory in nature. [1] In another case, the skull of a human child was found in the nest of a crowned eagle pair.[1] Yet another time, when assisting in the investigation of the disappearance of a four-year-old girl, Simon Thomsett came to believe she was the victim of a crowned eagle after the severed arm of a child was found in a tall tree that was inaccessible to leopards and known to be used as a crowned eagle cache.[2]
The now-extinct Haast's eagle of New Zealand has also been suggested as a possible human predator. It is the likely identity of the mythical Maori bird known as the Pouakai, which was said to carry off people and devour them. Given that the Haast's eagle preyed on moas, flightless birds that could grow up to 10 feet tall, it is entirely possible that they preyed on humans. [3]
One one exceptional occasion, a White-tailed eagle was recorded attacking a four-year-old girl named Svanhild Hansen in Sweden. Unlike in crowned eagle attacks, the white-tailed eagle actually carried off the little girl in flight to its eyrie but the child escaped unharmed after having been dropped by the eagle to a ledge 16 m (52 ft) below the nest. Though the attack itself was not witnessed by anyone besides the girl herself, it was subsequently investigated by a number of scientists, who declared the account to be fully reliable. [4]
See Also
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[edit]- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Steynwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Thomsettwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Casey, Michael; Associated Press (14 September 2009). "Extinct New Zealand eagle may have eaten humans". ABC News.
- ^ Wood, Gerald (1983). The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. ISBN 978-0-85112-235-9.