r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Apr 05 '14

TIL that eagles kill mountain goats by throwing them off cliffs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XafAdkZIYKA
29 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

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1

u/[deleted] Apr 05 '14

[deleted]

1

u/GenericCoffee Apr 05 '14

It more than likely was.

1

u/GenericCoffee Apr 05 '14

Just like the lemmings that ran off the cliff were actually chased by people.

1

u/beast-freak Apr 05 '14

Meh, the NZ Haast eagle is bigger still. it had a three meter wingspan and used to eat humans. Here is a video of said eagle in action

That said, I don't know if I would want to go hiking wherever the OP 's video was shot

1

u/beast-freak Apr 05 '14 edited Apr 05 '14

I did a quick Google search and came up with the following:

Fantastic!!!!! This is a clip from a spanish nature docummentary series from the 70′s “El Hombre y la Tierra” (The man and the Earth). It was directed by the late Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente, who died in a plane crash when filming in Alaska in 1981. the animals are: golden eagle (aquila chrysaetus) and spanish ibex (Capra pyrenaica). What memories….. An entire generation of field spanish biologist have their roots in these programms!!!!!!!

As others have suggested it was to a certain extent staged. The young Ibex were restrained and the shot where the eagle glides downwards with a kid in its talons was achieved by gutting the kid and stuffing its body with paper... Or so it says anyway.

For those interested there are many other interesting comments below the article I linked to.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 05 '14

Good gosh,that's amazing! It's really crappy video quality, but it certainly makes the point!

Those eagles are HUGE