Posted on 05/09/2021 8:23:54 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
These bittersweet images tell the incredible story of a photographer who spent time living with a remote tribe in Mongolia—who hunt with eagles.
The tribe have used golden eagles to hunt prey during the bleak winter months for centuries, an extraordinary example of a relationship between humans and semi-wild animals.
However, the ancient tradition is becoming rarer and these eagle hunters may very well be the LAST of their kind.
There are an estimated 250 eagle hunters in Bayan-Ölgii, which is located in the Altai Mountains of western Mongolia.
It takes five years to finish training with eagles and become an eagle hunter or “berkutchi.”
During this period, the hunter must gain the eagle’s trust by showing respect and gentleness or it might fly away and never come back.
Once the eagle is old enough, its skills honed, the berkutchi, and his horse, work together with the golden eagle to predominantly catch prey for food.
he eagle’s primary object is to catch the prey and grasp it long enough for the hunter to seize it. The eagles are given a piece of meat as a reward after the hunt.
Sadly, modern Kazakh eagle hunters are dwindling, with the younger generation moving away to cities, and preferring the comforts of modern living.
Despite this, many eagle hunters pass on their skills to their sons and daughters.
Zay Yar, a 36-year-old photographer, spent some time in western Mongolia documenting the life of these incredible people.
(Excerpt) Read more at theepochtimes.com ...
Tastes a lot like spotted owl.
Yep that’s pretty good 👍🏻
Fascinating... There has got to be some kind of almost mythical legend of the first Mongolian tribesman to figure out how to work with an eagle to get food to survive. These men would spit on my overweight lazy American self...
Could be an interesting mash up with the Tibetan Throat Singers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ktjUHjR6iU
The Australian Crocodile Hunters are also dwindling.
Just incredible! Thanks for posting.
You can get around the paywall with Outline.
Cool.
THAT WAS GREAT! THANX!
Note that the kitty is wondering where his Big Can of chicken-tuna pate is, and why haven't you got it for him...
Tradition. It’s NOT a bad thing! Usually!
Whoa!
Reminds me of that pic of some woman with two cheetahs in the kitchen looking for their dinner.
Glad I watched that. Thanks!
Definitely a real toe-tapper
“He had a cold and he’s a little horse.”
“It’s been a hard day’s night...”
Cheetah + kitchen + hungry
Brings up on first page...
BlueSilktravel.com had a tour of the eagle festival.
Great movie on just this subject,
The Eagle Huntress.
Young girl breaks in to the Eagle hunting world as the first female.
“The Australian Crocodile Hunters are also dwindling.”
I was at the local supermarket — not many in-person shoppers left. Mostly employees with giant carts filling out on-line orders. I am a dying breed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.