Taronga Zoo eagle injures boy

[Chlidonias]

I saw another article that says the boy was "viciously attacked" which of course he wasn't, so despite the awful headline I have posted this article instead
The eagle has landed - whoops

18 July 2011

The little boy, should he remember, will have a story for the rest of his life about the day he took on Australia's largest bird of prey and sent it into retirement.

Nonami, a wedge-tailed eagle of three years' performance training, was flying in the noon bird show at Sydney's Taronga Zoo when it suddenly veered off course.

Deviating from her prepared flight-path, she instead landed on an 18-month-old boy, who was visiting on Saturday with his family.

The impact of Nonami - the bird is seven-years-old and has a wingspan of two metres - left the child with a gash on the head.

The boy was taken by ambulance to the Royal North Shore hospital, and discharged a few hours later.

A statement from the zoo yesterday quoted experienced keepers in attendance who described the bird's behaviour as ''exploratory rather than attacking''.

''However the bird has been immediately removed from the show and will never be flown in public again,'' the statement said.

It brings to an inglorious end what had been a promising career for Nonami, given to the zoo more than three years ago.

Previously, Nonami had been used in school education classes and also featured in several television commercials.

When she joined Taronga the zoo expressed the hope that she would ''be able to fly from a substantial height, swooping down over the heads of the crowd to land on centre stage and display her massive two-metre wings''.

Yesterday the zoo said it had begun an inquiry to ascertain what had happened and to try to ensure it did not recur.

''Taronga Zoo staff extend every concern and care for the boy and his family and will continue to support them,'' a statement said.

 

[nanoboy]

Oh dear oh dear.
I quite like those free-flight shows. In fact, I try to stand as close to where the birds land as the keepers will let me.
I guess the zoo's insurance will take care of the family's medical costs.

 

[Steve Robinson]

Just a thought - to those of you who oppose visitor or keeper interaction with big cats and the like, what is your opinion about free flying raptor interactive shows?

 

[kc7gr]

I don't oppose interaction at all, if it can be done safely. This incident, to me, sounds like a simple accident. Heck, anyone who works with raptors, falconers included, runs a similar risk. I'm just grateful the family involved isn't screaming "lawsuit!" like they probably would be in the States.

I will say the most 'interaction' I'd ever want to see in a free-flight public raptor show is set up an audience volunteer with a glove and a bit of food, and have a 'low-risk' bird (say, a human-imprint owl or a well-behaved Harris hawk) do a land-eat-and-run sort of thing. With a handler right behind the volunteer, of course.

I have mixed feelings about the "Photo with a Falcon" thing some places do after their shows. I tend to view each one on a case-by-case basis.

As large and powerful as most eagles are, I could easily understand something like this happening in a free-flight show, especially if the bird involved is a social imprint. I just hope they don't stop flying Nonami altogether. That wouldn't be fair to her.

Happy travels.