Eagle Attacking Deer: Camera Captures Rare Images Of Eagle Attacking Deer

A camera set up in far east Russia to capture tigers in the wild depicted a lot more than the researchers hoped for. Biologists recently released photos accidentally captured by the camera depicting a golden eagle attacking a deer and eventually killing the young creature. The photos have since been published in the Journal of Raptor Research and by the Wildlife Conservation Society. They are the first photos of a golden eagle attacking a sika deer. This has provided astounding evidence in the debate regarding whether or not raptors and larger birds attack medium-sized land animals for food. "I've been assessing deer causes of death in Russia for 18 years-this is the first time I've seen anything like this," said Linda Kerley, a wildlife biologist with the London Zoological Society.

Conservation biologist Jonathan Slaght and Kerley were working on the original Siberian tiger project together before penning the paper about the findings captured on camera. The camera used for the project contained heat sensors, and began shooting once they were triggered. When Kerley went to the site to check on the camera, which was placed in a precarious position, she noticed the dismantled deer carass. She sensed something odd about it considering there were no animal tracks surrounding it and decided to look through the photos captured. The camera captured three images of the eagle taking down the deer from above. Director of Raptor Research at Boise University Mark Fuller said the images provide something extraordinary to the understanding of birds of prey. "[It] certainly says something about the capabilities of these animals, along with documented cases in North America of golden eagles taking down pronghorns and other large prey as opposed to taking rabbits, groundhogs, squirrels and so forth," he said. "The circumstances in which these predators are motivated to take on these riskier prey, however, is not well understood."