A wedge-tailed eagle that was part of a birds of prey show at Alice Springs Desert Park flew at a young boy and latched on to his head with its talons instead of flying over to a perch as it had been trained to.
The moment was captured by a visitor to the park, Christine O’Connell, who uploaded an image on to Instagram of the eagle seemingly attempting to drag away the boy, who was wearing a green hoodie.
O’Connell wrote as the caption: “At a nature park in Alice Springs we decided to go to a bird show the young boy in the green kept pulling his zipper up and down. For some reason the wedge-tailed eagle did not like it and instead of flying over to the log he is meant to for a photo opportunity he flew straight at the young boy and attacked him.”
The park advertises the show as a chance to “Get up close with Australia’s largest bird of prey, the wedge-tailed eagle” and to discover their “interesting lives”.
A spokeswoman for the park confirmed the incident.
“On Wednesday, 6 July, an incident occurred at the Alice Springs Desert Park where an eagle made contact with an audience member,” the spokeswoman said. “A thorough investigation regarding the circumstances behind this incident is under way and the eagle will be removed from the show while this investigation is ongoing.”
The boy received only superficial injuries and was immediately treated for his wounds by first aid officers, she said.
A Victorian man who witnessed the incident, Keenan Lucas, told News Corp the show was ended after the incident.
“We’re at the bird show in the afternoon, having a great time and looking forward to seeing the wedge-tailed eagle come out for the finale,” Lucas said.
“The bird then flew over the crowd and tried to grab on to a young boy’s head. He screamed, the mother was distraught and the presenters wrapped up the show very quickly.”
The wedge-tailed eagle is Australia’s largest bird of prey. According to Bird Life Australia, they have an average wingspan of 2.3m and feed on rabbits, birds and lizards, and have also been known to kill and feed on lambs.
