About
The Golden Eagle festival sees golden eagles soaring through the air at speeds of up to 200mph as well as horse racing, archery and Bushkashi, which is a goatskin tug of war on horseback.
Other pictures show the hunters wearing their traditional costumes, complete with fur coats made of marmot, fox or wolf skins, which have been caught by their eagles.Hunting with eagles is a traditional form of falconry found throughout the Eurasian steppe, practiced by Kazakh and Kyrgyz people in contemporary Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as diasporas in Bayan-Ölgii, Mongolia, and Xinjiang, China. Though these Turkic people are most famous for hunting with golden eagles, they have been known to train northern goshawks, peregrine falcons, saker falcons, and more.[
Terminology
In both Kazakh and Kyrgyz,
the two primary languages of Central Asian falconry, there are separate terms
for those who hunt with birds of prey in general, and those who hunt with
eagles.
In Kazakh, there are two general terms for people who capture,
train, and hunt with various birds of prey: "qusbegi" and
"sayatshy". Qusbegi comes from the words "qus", meaning
"bird", and "bek", meaning "lord", the title thus
literally translating as "lord of birds." In Old Turkic, "kush
begi" was a title used for the khan's most respected advisors, reflecting
the valued role of a ruler's court falconer.2 "Sayat" is a noun used to
describe falconry in general, and the word for "falconer" is formed
by adding the ending -shy, a suffix used for professional titles in Turkic languages.
Similarly, the Kazakh word for golden eagle is "bürkit", and the word
for "hunter with eagles" is bürtkitshi. By analogy, the word for
"hunter with goshawks" is qarshyghashy, from the word for goshawk,
qarshygha.
In Kyrgyz, the general word for people who capture, train, and
hunt with various birds of prey is "münüshkör". A falconer who
specifically hunts with eagles is a "bürkütchü", from the Kyrgyz word
for golden eagle, "bürküt".
Kazakhs
Kazakh eagle hunter in Altai Tavan Bogd National Park, Mongolia.
During the communist period in Kazakhstan, many Kazakhs fled for Mongolia,[11] settling down in Bayan Ulgii, an area that has been designated for the Kazakhs of Mongolia today. Kazakhs (Altaic Kazakhs or Altai-Kazakhs) living in Bayan-Ölgii Province of Mongolia continue to hunt with eagles today. There are an estimated 250 eagle hunters in the Western Mongolian province.[12][13][14] Their falconry custom, so-called 'horse-riding eagle falconry', is unique in practice only with trained Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos daphanea) on horseback. Their hunting target is almost limited to Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) or Corsac Fox (Vulpes corsac).[15] In the first week of October, 70 eagle hunters gather for the annual Golden Eagle Festival of Mongolia [16][17] They use eagles to hunt foxes and hare during the cold winter months when it is easier to see the gold colored foxes against the snow.[18][19] Many Kazakh traditions have been preserved by the Kazakhs in Mongolia, eagle hunting being amongst them. Although the Kazakh government has made efforts to lure the practitioners of these Kazakh traditions back to Kazakhstan, most Kazakhs have remained in Mongolia.
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