Eagle Attacking Deer And Other Deadly Bird Attacks [VIDEOS]: First Russian Photographic Evidence Of Golden Eagles Killing Ungulates

Golden eagles may seem relatively dainty compared to large mammals, but recent photographs showing an eagle attacking a deer is just one example of how dangerous these winged creatures can be.

In a paper published in the Jounal of Raptor Research, Linda Kerley and Jonathan Slaght unveiled four images of a golden eagle attacking and killing a sika deer, and perhaps the first documentation of such an attack.

"In 11 [years] of our investigations of ungulate kills in the southern Russian Far East, this is the first time we observed evidence of a Golden Eagle killing any deer species, despite locating hundreds of carcasses during that time and assessing cause of death," writes the authors.

"It is true that we cannot say for sure how the deer died and it could have died from stress, but I do believe it happened quickly because the first vulture showed up and was photographed in the same camera trap just 68 minutes later followed by other avian and mammalian scavengers. This was the first time I have ever photographed a vulture in a camera trap so I assume they were attracted to the deer carcass. Tracks in snow also showed no indication that the deer struggled for long."

And although this may be the first Golden Eagle attacking deer documentation, other eagle variants have been well documented to attack large mammals.

Check out some videos of eagle attacks below:

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