Watch CBS News

Turns Out, The Eagle Never Flew Off With A Baby

By Sara, 97.1 The Ticket

The startling video that made it look like a golden eagle tried to fly off with a baby was definitely fake.  People have been fascinated over the last few days with the YouTube sensation that seems to show a family playing in a park in Canada right before a giant eagle swoops in and lifts the baby off the ground for a few feet.  A golden eagle normally snatches up prey like rabbits and squirrels, but they can lift birds as large as swans so it may have seemed plausible to some viewers that the eagle could hunt a baby as well.

Golden Eagle Snatches Kid by MrNuclearCat on YouTube

Plausible or not, the video is indeed fake.  A group of students in the 3D animation and digital design program at the National Animation and Design Centre in Montreal took credit for the scam.  The whole thing is actually part of an annual project at the school called "Hoax the Internet Exam."  The baby and the eagle were created using 3D animation and the video took nearly 400 hours to create.

Last year, a student uploaded footage of a penguin who allegedly escaped from the Montreal zoo.  Not bad, but nowhere near as cool as the baby and eagle video.

Penguin escaped zoo in Montreal!!! by elainefarfalla on YouTube
View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.