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Students Claim Responsibility For Faking Viral Video Of Eagle Snatching Child

MONTREAL, Quebec (CBS SF) -- A video of a Golden Eagle snatching a child off the ground in Montreal has gone viral on Bay Area-based YouTube, but a Canadian new media school has said the video was created by students.

The video shows the Golden Eagle circling an area above a park in Montreal, before swooping down and apparently picking up a small child playing in the grass.

Warning: Contains Brief Graphic Language

Golden Eagle Snatches Kid by MrNuclearCat on YouTube

The bird succeeded in snatching the child from the ground, but the video shows the bird dropping the child from about five feet in the air. The video quickly went viral, and drew a number of critics questioning its authenticity.

On Wednesday, Centre NAD authored a press release saying that the video was made by three students in a production simulation workshop class of the Bachelors degree in 3D Animation and Digital Design program and was not an authentic recording.

The video had over two million views after just one day.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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