Hi Denise,
It is pretty clear that it is a hoax - see previous mails. Further to the
already mentioned points (including that the originators of the clip already
explained how they faked it) has anyone had a look at the jizz of the bird? It
is supposed to be a Golden Eagle, but the jizz doesn't look like that of an
aquiline eagle at all. Almost looks like that the students 'borrowed' features
from different genera to create their movie!
Thanks for sending through the interesting Berger & McGraw paper on
Stephanoaetus-type eagles and an Australopithecus africanus child. Admittedly,
I didn't have the chance to read the paper in detail but it is clear that they
compared skull damage marks to those caused by Stephanoaetus-type eagles (see
also Gilbert et al. 2009 American Journal of Physical Anthropology). Maybe due
to my superficial reading I missed an important point: Can they really rule out
that the eagle KILLED the Australopithecus or did it just SCAVENGE on a dead
one?
We have to be very careful with overinterpreting these kinds of data. Similar
stories already brought Lammergeier (Bearded Vulture) to the brink of
extinction. And there are certainly many other examples...
Cheers,
Nikolas
----------------
Nikolas Haass
Sydney, NSW
________________________________
From: Denise Goodfellow <>
To: Eve Belisle <>; Carl Clifford <>
Cc: Birding Aus <>
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2012 7:07 AM
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Golden Eagle attempts to take child
It is possible that this isn't a hoax.
There is evidence from the 2 million year old fossil of a small South
African child (Australopithecus africanus) that it was killed by a large
bird of prey about the same size as our Wedge-tailed eagle (Berger, L.R.
and Mcgraw, W.S.{2007}. Further evidence for eagle predation of, and
feeding damage on, the Taung child. South African Journal of Science,
vol.103, n.11-12:496-498).
I wouldn't at all be surprised at an eagle having a go at a child. After all
what's the difference between a toddler and a well-grown lamb? Being human
doesn't preclude one being prey.
Too well do I remember that baby Azaria Chamberlain being snatched by a
dingo was considered a hoax as well. All the time my semi-traditional
Aboriginal relatives were telling me that they knew that dingoes would take
infants, evidence that I handed on to then criminologist, Dr. Paul Wilson,
who was researching the issue.
Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow
1/7 Songlark Street,
Bakewell, NT 0832
043 8650 835
PhD candidate, SCU
Vice-chair, Wildlife Tourism Australia
Nominated for the Condé Nast international ecotourism award, 2004 by the
renowned American website, Earthfoot.
Wildlife Adviser, BBC¹s ŒDeadly 60¹
On 19/12/12 11:04 PM, "Eve Belisle" <> wrote:
> Hi,
Several aspects are wrong with this video, the first one being that the
> ground has been covered in snow for at least a week here in Montreal. The
> second thing is that this eagle is not a golden, the white patches on the
> wings does not correspond to any stage of a young golden eagle plumage. It has
> been suggested that it could be a Steppe Eagle or an hybrid, common in
> falconry. The child is probably a doll, I think it's a well staged hoax!
Eve
> Bélisle
Montréal, Canada
Sent from my iPhone
On 2012-12-19, at 06:48, Carl
> Clifford <> wrote:
> It is certainly a bit of a
> curates egg as far as videos go, which is why I qualified with "seems
> genuine". There are parts which look kosher and parts with an aura of shonk. I
> guess the only way to know is for someone to do a proper forensic rip down on
> the original of the clip. It is the sort of clip which brings many "experts"
> out of the woodwork.
>
> Carl Clifford
>
> On 19/12/2012, at 22:00, Wendy
> Cayless <> wrote:
>
>>
>> Seems it is a fake
>>
> http://wtvr.com/2012/12/19/viral-fake-out-golden-eagle-snatches-kid-is-cgi/
>>
>
>> Wendy
>> http://twitter.com/WendyJoy
>> http://wjcsydney.wordpress.com
>>
> http://kiva.org/invitedby/wendy2641
>>
>>
>> From: Carl Clifford
> <>
>> To: Birding-Aus Aus <>
>
>> Sent: Wednesday, 19 December 2012 6:43 PM
>> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Golden
> Eagle attempts to take child
>>
>> Dear B-A,
>>
>> Interesting footage of a
> Golden Eagle attempting to take a toddler in a park in Montreal, Quebec. It
> seems to be genuine.
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE0Q904gtMI
>>
>>
> Cheers,
>>
>> Carl Clifford
>> =
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