In the Australian Outback, a young boy named Cody rescues and befriends a rare giant eagle named Marahute, who shows him her nest and eggs. Later on, the boy unknowingly falls into an animal trap set by Percival C. McLeach, a local poacher wanted by the Australian Rangers. When McLeach finds one of the eagle's feathers on the boy's backpack, he is instantly overcome with excitement, for he knows that catching an eagle that size would make him rich because he had caught one before, which was Marahute's mate. McLeach throws Cody's backpack to a pack of crocodiles in order to trick the Rangers into thinking that Cody was dead, and kidnaps him in his attempt to force him to reveal the whereabouts of Marahute.