A golden eagle attacked today Sunday in a 20-month-old girl in Norway, forcing his mother and a neighbor to fight off the bird of prey, which was eventually killed by a game warden, Norwegian media reported.

The toddler, who was playing on the family’s farm in Trøndelag, central Norway, when the eagle pounced on her, required stitches to the back of her head and her face was scratched by the raptor’s claws, her father told public broadcaster NRK .

“The eagle appeared out of nowhere and grabbed our youngest daughter,” said the father.

“Her mother rushed in and grabbed the eagle but had to struggle to let it go. A neighbor also ran to help her,” he added.

Gamekeeper Per Kare Winterdahl, who killed the eagle, told NRK that the eagle had treat the little girl as if she were “prey”.

He explained that the mother and the neighbor holding a stick had managed to keep the animal away from the little girl, “but the eagle kept coming back”.