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1 November 2008 Predation by a Golden Eagle on a Brown Bear Cub
Ole J. Sørensen, Mogens Totsås, Tore Solstad, Robin Rigg
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

During spring 2004 an adult female brown bear (Ursus arctos) and her 3 cubs-of-the-year were observed outside their den on a south-facing low-alpine slope in central Norway. They remained near the den for 8–10 days and were, except for one day, observed daily by Totsås and other wardens of the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate. On 25 April, as the family was moving along the edge of a steep, treeless slope and down a snowdrift, the smallest cub, at the back of the group, was attacked by a golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). The cub vocalized loudly as it was lifted off the ground and carried away. The eagle was still carrying the cub when it flew into cloud cover and was lost from view. Although no remains were found, it is probable that the eagle killed the cub. This paper describes the circumstances of the incident and relates it to other observations of attacks by eagles on young bears in Europe and North America.

Ole J. Sørensen, Mogens Totsås, Tore Solstad, and Robin Rigg "Predation by a Golden Eagle on a Brown Bear Cub," Ursus 19(2), 190-193, (1 November 2008). https://doi.org/10.2192/08SC008.1
Received: 28 February 2008; Accepted: 1 April 2008; Published: 1 November 2008
KEYWORDS
Aquila chrysaetos
brown bear
cub mortality
golden eagle
Norway
predation
Ursus arctos
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