Gus Lamont mystery: Eagle expert reveals whether giant raptor could have taken missing four-year-old

The family of missing boy Gus Lamont plans to scour wedge-tailed eagle nests for any trace of the four-year-old as a leading expert on Australia’s largest bird of prey explains what could — and definitely could not — have happened to him.

One year after Gus vanished without a trace from his grandparents’ remote South Australian sheep station, environmental biologist and wedge-tailed eagle specialist Simon Cherriman said it was physically impossible for one of the giant raptors to have swooped down, scooped up the little boy and flown away.

“The maximum weight a wedge-tailed eagle could carry is up to five kilos,” Dr Cherriman told The Nightly.

“It’s physically impossible for a wedgetail to pick up and carry away something heavier than that.”

The extraordinary theory has emerged after a year of anguish, exhaustive searches and dead ends since Gus disappeared from Oak Park Station, near Yunta, on September 27, 2025.

Sunday marked one year since the little boy was last seen playing outside the homestead before seemingly vanishing into thin air.

Despite 11 ground searches and extensive aerial searches covering more than 700sq km, no trace of Gus has been found.

The absence of answers has left Gus’s family searching for explanations, including possibilities they admit are remote.

His grandmother Josie Murray last week raised the prospect that a wedge-tailed eagle could somehow have played a role.

“The eagle aspect should be looked at,” Ms Murray told 7NEWS.

“I mean, that is certainly, it’s highly unlikely, but it’s not impossible.”

She plans to search eagle nests around the sprawling station in the hope of finding any evidence related to Gus.

Dr Cherriman, who has studied wedge-tailed eagles for more than two decades and completed a PhD examining their ecology and movements, said the proposition came down to two questions.

“One, what’s the likelihood a wedge-tailed eagle would attack a person? And there are cases of that happening but it’s very, very rare,” he said.

The second — whether an eagle could carry a child away — comes down to physics.

Dr Cherriman said a wedge-tailed eagle could carry a maximum load of about 5kg, meaning an infant could theoretically be vulnerable in extraordinary circumstances but Gus would have been far too heavy.

“If the child’s not been picked up and carried away, have they been physically attacked,” Dr Cherriman said.

“That could theoretically be possible because we know wedge-tailed eagles tandem hunt and they also hunt in groups.

“Many younger birds congregate together to take down larger prey, including kangaroos that are 10, 15, 20 kilos.”

But larger prey is not carried away.

“The animal is chased and chased and harried until it’s exhausted, eventually killed, and then it’s eaten in situ,” Dr Cherriman said.

“So, if there has been a thorough search (of Oak Park Station), there would be traces of clothing or something like that.”

Dr Cherriman stressed an attack on a human would be exceptionally unusual.

“I would say it would be so unlikely because there’s been no cases of it before and eagles are very shy of humans,” he said.

“They’re very wary.”

Dr Cherriman said there were reports of wedge-tailed eagles taking dogs and other domestic animals, but approaching a child would require “very unusual circumstances”.

Yet searching the nests could still turn up clues.

Dr Cherriman said wedge-tailed eagles are scavengers as well as hunters, and it was possible something taken to a nest could still be there a year later.

“It could be. It depends on what he was wearing,” he said.

“You might find evidence of scavenging. It doesn’t prove that a bird flew down and killed him.

“In terms of a process of elimination, investigating things, it could be an avenue to pursue.”

Dr Cherriman said eagle nests in the arid zone could be located from the air and then inspected on foot, as he had done during research into the birds’ diets.

Another expert, who spoke to The Nightly on background, also considered it unlikely an eagle was involved in Gus’s disappearance.

“As I understand it, eagles have been recorded carrying prey of up to 5kg in flight, but heavier prey would be attacked and dragged on the ground rather than moved long distances,” the expert said.

“It’s horrible to talk about it in this way but I think such an attack would have left evidence relatively close by.”

South Australia Police declined to answer The Nightly’s specific questions about whether Task Force Horizon had investigated the eagle theory, sought expert advice or searched nests around Oak Park Station.

“SAPOL will not be commenting further on the matter at this stage,” a spokesperson said.

Task Force Horizon boss Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke was last week asked about Gus’s grandmother’s recent public comments and theories.

“They have no investigative value,” he said.

“We can discount all of them.

“It’s nothing new.

“They’ve all been looked at.”

SAPOL did not specifically confirm whether Det-Supt Fielke’s comments included the eagle theory.

Police maintain it is unlikely Gus wandered away or was abducted by an unknown person, with Task Force Horizon instead focused on the possibility someone known to him was involved in his disappearance and suspected death.

Last week, the State Government announced a record $1 million reward for information leading to the conviction of the person or people responsible for Gus’s disappearance and/or the recovery of his remains.

The announcement was accompanied by an emotional video appeal from Gus’s intensely private parents, Jessica Murray and Joshua Lamont, who pleaded for anyone with information to come forward.

“We miss Gus more than we can describe,” Mr Lamont said through tears.

“We are desperate to have him return home to us and we are desperate for answers.

“We believe that someone knows something. Someone knows what happened to Gus and may even know where he is.”

Dr Cherriman said police had not approached him about the case but he would be prepared to assist investigators.

“Obviously (it is) very hard when there’s no evidence,” he said.

“But in my experience in reading forensics cases, it’s usually a person that’s involved somewhere.

“Animals can be a convenient scapegoat, but it’s not to say it doesn’t happen.

“It’s all about the evidence.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Information can be provided anonymously.