How to Train your Eagle – Part 1 : Bayan-Ölgii, Mongolia

“A fast horse and a soaring eagle
are the wings of a nomad.”

–Kazakh proverb

The animals in Western Mongolia are as wild as the landscape: the horses are unruly and the hunting eagles are never fully tame. I suspect that the ethnic Kazakhs who live there prefer it that way.

The Kazakhs are descendants of medieval Turkic and Mongol tribes who formed a unique identity between 1456 and 1465. They were always semi-nomadic wanderers on the steppes, reliant on their livestock: sheep, Bactrian camels and horses; for transportation, clothing and food. 

Over the years – and for various reasons (see: At Home with the Kazakhs; Nurguli, Eagle Huntress) – large numbers of Kazakhs crossed the Altai Mountains from Kazakhstan into Bayan-Ölgii Province in the western corner of Mongolia. High in the mountain plateaus that nestle along the borders of China and Russia, the customs and traditions of the 90,000-or-so ethnic Kazakhs that live here have changed little in hundreds of years. Nominally Sunni Muslims, they also pay reverence to the sky, ancestors, fire and supernatural good- and evil-spirits. Although Mongolian is taught at school, it is a second language for most people in the province who speak their own Turkic Kazakh at home. They rely on their clan and their herds, living a pastoral-nomadic lifestyle, complete with their age-old tradition of hunting with eagles.

Training a golden eagle (or, more rarely, another raptor) in the timeless Kazakh traditions is passed down through generations. In the family where I was staying –  with Mongolian guides G and Segi of Shaman Tours, photographers Jeffrey Chapman and Winslow Lockhart from Within the Frame, and several other travellers – the patriarch Sarkhad was an award-winning eagle hunter. Two of his four sons had followed in his footsteps, and these three men were guiding Sarkhad’s young granddaughter in the art of eagle hunting (see: Nurguli, Eagle Huntress).

Becoming a burkitshi, a Kazakh eagle hunter, takes strength, endurance, patience, and of course, a love of these beautiful raptors. Commentators who have spent time with these burkitshi remark on the affinity they have with their birds. The hunters find an eagle nest – high in the mountains – and capture a young female bird from under her parents’ watchful eyes. The bird is then hooded, tethered and hand reared: “The first rule in training an eagle to hunt is to treat it with respect and gentleness like it is a baby.” The trainer talks, sings, and croons to the hooded bird to get it used to his or her voice, and to keep it calm and happy. Although the birds are restrained between hunts, they could easily fly away when released, or attack their handlers.

Once the birds are old enough, the hunters – on foot or on specially trained horses – take the eagles high onto a ridge or hill and teach them to come when called and to catch prey and give it to their masters. The key here is repetition. Lots and lots of repetition.

The Kazakhs hunt in winter when the pelts of the furred animals they are seeking – rabbits, marmots, foxes, and even wolves – are lusher. Eagle hunting provides the furs and meat necessary to survive the harsh winters, and animal furs, felts and pelts are an integral part of traditional Kazakh clothing.

The eagles take four to five years to train fully, and are only ever semi-tamed. After about ten years of captivity, they are returned to the wild: the hunter leaves a sheep carcass deep in the mountains, releases the bird and leaves her to fend for herself, find a mate and reproduce.

We were able to tag along as Sarkhad and his two eagle-hunting sons helped 13-year old Nurguli learn how to handle and train her young bird.

It was a learning experience for us as well!

As I said – some harsh customs. 

It used to be that the annual Ölgii Eagle Festival included live prey, but tourists found it too distressing, so only pelts are used in competition. There is nothing “romantic” about the traditional lives of the Kazakh nomads!

But, it is clear how well they understand their environment, and how much they respect and value the magnificent birds of prey that they have persuaded to help them clothe and feed their families.

It was a real privilege to spend time with them.

Pictures: 28&29Septembery2016