Researchers studying Siberian tigers in Russia came across a strange thing in the woods: the carcass of a deer in the snow—but no sign of any tracks from the predator that killed it. A review of film in a nearby camera trap solved the mystery: It shows dramatic images of a golden eagle attacking the deer, reports NPR. The researchers think it's the first such documentation of an eagle doing so—think 12-pound bird vs. 100-pound deer—though anecdotal reports have suggested as much over the years.
"It was only after we got back to camp that I checked the images from the camera and pieced everything together," says Linda Kerley of the Zoological Society of London. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing." The images were published in the Journal of Raptor Research. "In this case I think Linda just got really lucky and was able to document a very rare, opportunistic predation event," Jonathan Slaght of the Wildlife Conservation Society tells LiveScience. (And unlike the video hoax of the baby-snatching golden eagle, this time the images are legit.)