'Eagle Grabs Baby' a Fake YouTube Video?
A video published on YouTube Tuesday night has attracted more than a million views and many skeptics for its portrayal of an apparent Golden Eagle swooping through the air in a Montreal park and snatching a small boy from the ground.
Phil Poling, going by the handle "ParaBreakdown" on YouTube, claims to have figured out the shocking video.
Read origial report: Golden Eagle Snatches Child in YouTube Video
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"It wasn't until after I uploaded my enhanced version of this video that I noticed this but, yeah, it's CG," Poling writes in the description of his version of the YouTube video titled "Golden Eagle Tries to Snatch Up Baby is Fake!"
Poling, a Bigfoot enthusiast, adds: "Notice how jerky the eagle and child move. The movements aren't smooth like you would expect from a forward moving object. The background, however pans naturally and smoothly. The two don't match up. Nor does the child stay in it's relative position with the eagle. These are obvious signs of CGI."
While viewers questioned Poling's narrated video, the Black Swamp Bird Observatory located in Ohio explained on its Facebook page that the video of a purported Golden Eagle and child was indeed fake. In a statement posted on the social media site Wednesday morning, the organization wrote:
"Hello Everyone, There is a video making the rounds on YouTube and social media right now that seemingly shows a 'Golden Eagle' swooping down to try and snatch a toddler. We want you to know that the video is a fake. This kind of publicity does so much damage to birds and we hope that if you see the video posted that you will inform people that it is not real."
A comment from acclaimed conservationist and author Kenn Kaufman was also shared regarding the video:
"'A golden eagle tries to snatch a baby in Montreal,' and the video goes viral. But it's faked. Golden Eagle is a scarce visitor in the Montreal area, but the bird in the video is not a Golden Eagle, nor anything else that occurs in the wild in North America. This was clearly a setup: using a falconer's bird, and probably a fake toddler for the distant scene. With all the ignorance about nature that's out there already, the last thing we need is this kind of stupid garbage."
The video in question shows what is said to be a Golden Eagle flying through the air overhead in a park before it swoops down low to the ground snatches up a toddler sitting on the grass. As the cameraman notices what's going on, he lowers the camera and runs toward the child. Meanwhile, a second adult runs toward the child, now airborne, and yells at the large bird. The purported eagle drops the child and takes off, leaving the two men to comfort the whimpering child who otherwise appears unharmed.
The viral video had a little over 300 views late Tuesday night, and racked up well over 1,200,000 million views on YouTube by Wednesday morning. "Golden Eagle Snatches Kid" was uploaded onto the video sharing website by "MrNuclearCat".
