Photos

In the far Western Mongolian province on Bayan Olgii there is a majority Kazakh population. Some of these Kazakhs use eagles to hunt with. This is is photo of one of these eagle hunters with his bird.

They only hunt in the wintertime after a fresh snow fall. This is how they do it:

They have the eagle tied up all the time. Right before it snows, they starve the eagle for a while. Then, just after it snows, they take the eagle out to look for tracks in the snow. Once they find some fresh tracks, they untie and release the eagle. It will follow the tracks, then kill the animal that made them (because it is so hungry). Then the hunters catch up to the eagle and tie it back up. They give the eagle part of the animal to eat, while they keep the rest for themselves. A good hunter with a good bird can kill 10 to 20 animals every winter using this technique. The eagles usually kill marmots, rabbits or foxes.

The eagles live for about 20 or 30 years each. The hunters only keep each eagle for about 10 years. When they want a new eagle, they set a trap with meat in it out in the open, and put the old eagle next to the trap, eating some more meat. When other eagles see this, they swoop down to share the meat, and get caught in the trap. The hunters then release the old eagle into the wild again.

This guy was an eagle hunter who lived beside Hotan Nur, which is a lake in Tavanbogd National Park.