Three-year-old girl taken by an eagle up to its eyrie in the mountains

True or not, there is money to be made if the right people get involved.

I could see Disney or maybe Studio Ghibli (the Japanese Disney) considering a pitch for an animated feature based on a story like this:

Svanhild of the Skies, a heartwarming tale of a young girl raised by eagles who learns to fly with the help of a magic cricket. Based on a true story.

It wouldn't be the strangest movie either studio has ever made. Not even close.




[edit on 12/8/2004 by Majic]

Yeah, your probably right.

I can't help but agree with those that immediately thought of Thunderbirds. I was pretty suprised they weren't brought up til the second page. It was the first thing that came to mind for me. Oh well, if they found the eyrie though I guess that is ruled out.

Eagles are known to have stolen lambs, why not a small child?
-Food is food, wether it's a fish or meat or some other carcass.

[edit on 9-12-2004 by Ulvetann]

Once outside of Ft. Carson near Colorado Springs I saw a ten pound jack rabbit come flying out of the sky and bounce ten feet in the air on I-25. I thank god that it was a rabbit the eagle could not hold on to and not a child.

Actually they did made a movie about this, but I haven´t been able to find the name of the movie. It is mentioned on several sites that they made a book and a film about this event, but without naming the titles. I found some other details though. More than 100 people were looking for her the day she disappeared. Someone noticed an eagle´s "suspicious behaviour" and went there to to investigate. They found a shoe at the foot of the mountain and climbed up. They found the frightened girl some 250 meters up with her dress damaged by the eagle´s claws. The girl is still alive and should be around 75 years old today.

When I lived in alaska the smaller pets in the neighborhood would look up and watch for eagles. My neighbor told me he lost a small dog to an eagle. I have not heard of any kids being taken but I guess it could happen.

Not suprised that he lost a dog. There have been tell of birds the size of small planes up there.

It was fun to watch the cats run for cover when an eagle flew by. Not really a cat fan. Eagles are noisy. An Eagle made a nest in the tree outside my bedroom window and it would start making noise just after sunrise. I wanted to shoot it. No late sleeping when the eagle was around.

Could it be...?

75th Anniversary

I'm bumping this old thread to tell you that on June 2nd (Saturday) it was 75 years ago since it happened. According to these new articles, Svanhild Hartvigsen's weight at the time the eagle snatched her, was 12-13 kilos (19 pounds). Someone apparently misunderstood kilos vs. pounds and that has added some confusion. She was 19 pounds (not 45), but she's the only child who has survived such a stunt. This weekend they celebrated the 75th anniversary with a big party.


Namdalsavisa: Ørnerovet 75 ür (in norwegian...)

Dan - You have posted this onliner without any supporting arguments. I find it completely plausible and quite practical.There have been a lot of incidents of foxes taking away babies in remote villages. A white tail eagle can easily take away a 42 pound kid for sure.

Although I believe an eagle ( some at least ) could lift 42 lbs, I must say the 19 lbs doesn't seem right either.

Why would an eagle randomly pick up a child and fly her to its nest? Eagles are territorial and they will only bring creatures to their nests for food, but obviously the child wasn't eaten. Personally, I don't believe this story at all. It just doesn't make sense. It goes against natural animal behavior.

This whole thing is a joke as an Eagle can't fly off with 19lbs let alone 42. Maybe you guys should do a little research before assuming such things.

It would be quite a chore for an average eagle to carry 10lbs.

American Bald Eagle - 4-5lbs lifting power

Philippine Eagle - 8-9lbs lifting power

Harpy Eagle - 9-11lbs lifting power

The now extinct Haast's Eagle could possibly lift 20lbs but seldom carried it's prey off since it usually attacked 300-400lb Moa's.

Like humans, I'm sure not all eagles are created equal. I don't see how an above-average sized eagle couldn't carry off a small child. The fact that she wasn't hurt is the extraordinary part.

An above average sized eagle would be about 18lbs which would put it's max at around 12lbs lifting power.

Sorry, I find this tale very hard to believe.

No. This is a fake. I am somewhat of an expert on raptors. The golden eagle can take sheep, small deer, and even wolves sometimes. They can not fly with them however. The Harpy eagle (which is the most powerful) can take a small cow if it is trained to do so. Normally it would take monkeys and sloth. The harpy eagle could not fly away with a child either, because they have "short", jungle wings.

If Haast's eagles were still around, perhaps. This recently extinct eagle fed on the moa, then on humans when the moa was wiped out. They had a wingspan of about 15ft.

As for teratorns, maybe if they are still around. The thunderbird legends are likely just stories that have been passed down since the age of the megafauna. Teratorns were giant condors that scavenged on the dead giant mammals. Argentavis magnificens was the largest with a wingspan of about 25ft.

Wrong. I know a bit about birds of prey, being a falconer and all. Golden eagles will kill sheep. In fact, the only legal way for a falconer to trap an adult golden eagle, is if there is proof of the bird killing livestock. I know a falconer who obtained his female golden eagle in this way.

Dude, did you even bother to read the posts above yours?