# Norwegian golden eagle carries off bear cub - First time ever observed! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 29, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701 "2004-04-29T17:27:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/1 "2004-04-29T17:27:02Z")
[Norwegian zoologists were astonished to learn that a golden eagle recently snatched a small bear cub from its mother in what experts said was undoubtedly a first](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1516&ncid=1516&e=1&u=/afp/20040429/od_afp/norway_animals_offbeat_040429083710) > [@](#): > > Two park rangers on a weekend patrol in the Lierne region of central Norway saw the eagle swoop down on the cub as it trotted along behind its mother and carry it away, one of the rangers told public broadcaster NRK. > > A golden eagle normally weighs about six kilogrammes (13 pounds), while the bear cub was said to have weighed about half that. > > Experts have until now believed that bears had no predators in the animal world. Mothers are also highly protective of their young. > > Torgeir Nygaard, a researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, said the likelihood of an eagle snatching a bear was about as rare as “finding snow in the Sahara”. > > “There has never before been such an observation,” he said. > > Biologist Ole Jacob Soerensen, a bear specialist, said he had not heard of such an incident before either. > > “It will certainly be another 100 years before that is seen again,” he said. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/2 "2004-04-29T17:34:56Z")
I’m curious if the eagle would have dropped the cub from altitude to kill it or simply taken it to it’s nest and tried to “talon” it to death. Even at half it’s size, a six or seven pound pissed off cub is gonna be fairly formidable. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/3 "2004-04-29T17:40:12Z")
Doesn’t the impact of the bird combined with the razor sharp talons either kill or seriously damage the prey? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/4 "2004-04-29T17:51:24Z")
[Bald eagles](http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Haliaeetus_leucocephalus.html) have massive tarsi, short and powerful grasping toes, and long talons. The talon of the hind toe highly developed in both species, and it is used to pierce vital areas while the prey is held immobile by the front toes. Another site said the talon can be 3 1/2 inches long and exert 300 lbs psi. I don’t yet see anything definitive but, yes, it would appear likely they’ve at least caused enough injury during capture and transport that the prey is fairly incapcitated… or dead. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/5 "2004-04-29T18:16:07Z")
Have bear cub remains or bones ever been discovered in eagle nests? ---
**Author:** ![DaToad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DaToad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaToad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/6 "2004-04-29T20:01:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Experts have until now believed that bears had no predators in the animal world. Momma Bear must have thought the same thing. How young would a 6.5 lb cub be? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/7 "2004-04-29T20:09:34Z")
[Meryl Streep] “Norwegian golden eagle’s got my by-bee!” [/Meryl Streep] ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/8 "2004-04-29T20:18:59Z")
As God is my witness, I saw that coming. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/9 "2004-04-29T22:03:27Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Experts have until now believed that bears had no predators in the animal world. Mothers are also highly protective of their young. This is incorrect. Dingos are quite adept at grabbing and killing bear cubs. This is why there arn’t any bears in Australia. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/10 "2004-04-29T22:39:10Z")
Never mind the bear cub. That one in the picture is about to nab a pastry chef! ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/11 "2004-04-29T22:42:20Z")
> [@RandomLetters](#): > > This is incorrect. Dingos are quite adept at grabbing and killing bear cubs. This is why there arn’t any bears in Australia. Thus leading to the extinction of the bear quote, “Dingos ate my baby.” ---
**Author:** ![cblackhand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@cblackhand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cblackhand)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/12 "2004-04-29T23:47:37Z")
> [@plnnr](#): > > As God is my witness, I saw that coming. It’s too bad the bear cub didn’t. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/13 "2004-04-30T00:20:27Z")
Sounds like the stuff of a picaresque tale… “The Lightness of a Bear’s Un-Being”? 😃 Seriously, though, I have no doubt that that phenomenon is incredibly rare. OTOH, I suspect that had the same thing been observed in the former Soviet Union during, say, the Stalinist era, it probably wouldn’t have been made public. ---
**Author:** ![woodstock989](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@woodstock989](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstock989)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/14 "2004-04-30T00:31:38Z")
Gee, maybe the bird carried it off to raise it as it’s own…of course the end result would be the same…when the bird pushes it out of the nest to teach it how to fly - Splat! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beauty\_Personified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Beauty\_Personified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beauty_Personified)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/15 "2004-04-30T01:13:06Z")
Or maybe the bird has plans to eventually mate with it. Then we’d get flying bears! _Flying bears! Look out Uma!_ Anyhoo… ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/16 "2004-04-30T02:21:09Z")
I’m kind of curious what kind of bear this was…the linked article doesn’t say. Both polar bears and brown bears are found in Norway. I’m guessing it was a brown bear because I don’t think the golden eagle would be found in the polar bear’s habitat. I could be wrong though. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/17 "2004-04-30T04:48:38Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > I suspect that had the same thing been observed in the former Soviet Union during, say, the Stalinist era, it probably wouldn’t have been made public. Oh, the symbolism! I can’t believe I didn’t think of it that way. Seriously, when I was pretty young an older kid told me that the bible had a line in it that read something like “The bear and the eagle will clash,” which pretty much led me to being scared of the Soviet Union for the first half of my life. I’m glad to learn that the eagle actually won :D. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/18 "2004-04-30T07:43:31Z")
Are they sure it’s not a norwegian blue? ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/19 "2004-04-30T09:51:50Z")
Let me guess, the bear cub’s name was Ganymede? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701/20 "2004-04-30T16:41:54Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Oh, the symbolism! I can’t believe I didn’t think of it that way. > > Seriously, when I was pretty young an older kid told me that the bible had a line in it that read something like “The bear and the eagle will clash,” which pretty much led me to being scared of the Soviet Union for the first half of my life. > > I’m glad to learn that the eagle actually won :D. That has to be one of the most often cited pseudo-Biblical quotes! LOL! I’ve also heard it attributed to Nostradamus. I actually do feel bad for the bear cub, but man, I bet that would have been so cool to see. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norwegian-golden-eagle-carries-off-bear-cub-first-time-ever-observed/242701.md?page=2)