Beach attack bald eagle captured
A bald eagle which attacked a young girl and harassed other beach-goers at an American seaside resort has been captured, officials said.
The bird, which attacked a three-year-old girl at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, on Tuesday, was caught by an animal control officer in Salisbury, Massachusetts, near the New Hampshire state line, and taken to the local Coastal Animal Clinic, police said.
Its identity was confirmed by using a photograph, police said.
The eagle, which has a six-foot wingspan, and was released into the wild from a North Carolina wildlife reserve, had been menacing people since Friday last week.
It slightly injured a girl and two adults on Sunday.
The three-year-old girl, Kayla Finn, of Albany, New York, was attacked on Tuesday as she ran down the beach near two other children playing football.
Her father frightened the bird away, and Kayla, who suffered scratches on her back from the bird’s claws, did not need medical treatment.
Peter MacKinnon, Hampshire’s animal control officer, said: ‘‘Other beaches have sharks, but at Hampton, we had to be different we had to get an attack eagle.’’
The bird spent most of Tuesday perched on chimneys and rooftops, avoiding would-be captors each time they approached.
The bird, which is about 14 months old and still has brown feathers on its head, posed little real danger to humans, officials said.
Beach-goers had made the situation worse by feeding the eagle.
MacKinnon said: ‘‘He associates people with food and that’s the worst possible situation for a wild bird.’’
Because the eagle has been attracted to footballs, officials later tried to lure it to the beach by tossing around a small green football. The eagle stayed out of the game.
State wildlife biologist Eric Orff said: ‘‘It’s not acting like an eagle, it’s acting like a pigeon.’’
Some of the spectators criticised the officials’ tactics.
Fourteen-year-old Jonathan Joiner, of Boston, said: ‘‘It’s too obvious for him, the people with the bait down there. I don’t think he’s that stupid. He’s up there laughing.’’
