birding-aus

Golden Eagle attempts to take child

To: Nikolas Haass <>, Eve Belisle <>, Carl Clifford <>
Subject: Golden Eagle attempts to take child
From: Denise Goodfellow <>
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2012 08:05:12 +0930
Hi Nicholas
I’m happy to accept that it might be a hoax, but my point is that such birds
may well be capable of taking a small child as they could a lamb.  In that
case it’s a moot point whether the Taung child was actually killed by a
raptor or scavenged.

Yes, some people may over-react as they did when it was finally accepted
that dingoes (like other dogs) could and would kill a human being, and as
some still do with venomous snakes or spiders or sharks.    Does that mean
the issue shouldn’t be open for discussion?

Regards
Denise


On 20/12/12 7:33 AM, "Nikolas Haass" <> wrote:

> 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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