A video posted online purportedly of a golden eagle trying to snatch a toddler in a park in Montreal, Canada, is a fake, it has been claimed.
The video, posted on to YouTube yesterday, shows the eagle – with a wingspan of around 6ft (2m) – circling around a park before swooping down on the unsuspecting child while his father’s attention is momentarily distracted.
However, the eagle almost immediately drops the toddler, who was wearing a thick winter coat.
The video was uploaded by user MrNuclearCat, who posted the caption: ‘A golden eagle tries to snatch a baby in Montreal! What if he got away with it?’
Shortly afterwards, however, another user posted analysis of the video claiming it was fake. The user, Cyatek, said slowing down the video showed the toddler still rising even after the eagle had dropped him.
On Reddit meanwhile, where the video was first publicised, it was claimed the eagle’s shadow at the start of the video did not match its position, meaning the bird of prey had been inserted via CGI.
And on Twitter, a self-confessed eagle expert said the eagle in the video was a juvenile eastern imperial eagle not native to North America.
However, others claimed online that the toddler was shown to be still going upwards even after apparently being let go by the eagle due to a thread of his coat being caught in the bird’s talons.
In the video the French-speaking man filming the incident swears in English before running over to the toddler, who is heard to be crying, and his dad.
The golden eagle is the largest bird of prey in North America, and can dive at speeds of up to 150mph (241km/h).
Its usual prey includes rabbits, marmots or squirrels.
Metro