An Australian toddler may lose his sight after he was attacked by a bird.
The one-year-old was injured by a swooping magpie, which struck another toddler the very same day.
Jacob Gale's left eye no longer has a lens after the vicious magpie attack.
"It's penetrated into the lens and they've had to remove the lens because it's damaged," his father Adam said.
Jacob and his parents were in a Perth park when the magpie swooped in out of the blue.
The damage it caused was so severe that even now, days later, his eye is healing.
But his parents don't know if his sight will return.
"Until he can communicate and say what he can see, the doctors and us won't actually know," he said.
Magpie attacks are common in Australia and New Zealand from August to October, when they hatch their chicks.
And little Jacob isn't the only victim. Three-year-old Bodie White was also attacked in the same park, on the same day, by the same bird.
"All of a sudden it flew at his face and scratched his eye. He obviously got very distressed and started screaming," his mum Rebecca said.
None of the parents want the bird killed, but experts say it's very aggressive and almost certain to strike again.
"A lot of people I know are a little upset over the fact this magpie is being euthanised however this is the right action in this instance," senior wildlife officer Rick Dawson said.
While they're considered pests in parts of New Zealand, magpies in Australia are a protected species.
But it's often people in need of protection.
The advice is to keep your distance until breeding season ends.
Newshub.
