The Golden Eagle

The Olgii Eagle Festival was born in 1999 thanks to funding from an American tourism agency based in UB. The party helped give new life to the practice of eagle hunting, attracting an increasing number of tourists from around the world each year. For Mongolian Kazakhs, eagle hunting is a winter hobby not a profession, in fact they live on pastoralism and winter is the time when flocks require the least attention. Hunters, usually descended from Burkitshi families, hunt according to tradition releasing eagles after an appropriate period of time, 5-7 years or when the eagle reaches reproductive age. These photos were taken in 2019