How to Train your Golden Eagle: A 6,000 year old tradition carried on by a 13 year old girl
If I'm being honest, I've never thought much about falconry. But this story is particularly fascinating.
Pictured above is a 13-year-old Kazakh girl named Ashol Pan, who has carried on a 6,000 year tradition by training her very own Golden Eagle. Her village relies on her eagle to hunt down foxes, wolves and rabbits, all of which provide food and pelts to survive the harsh winter months. Training one's eagle "involves blindfolding the animal for prolonged periods of time so that it develops a dependence on its handler, and can often involve sacrificing sleep in order to care for the bird of prey."
To watch footage of the Golden Eagle's hunt, get a birds eye view of the action as another Kazakh hunter and golden eagle team up to hunt a fox in the barren Altai Mountains of Mongolia:
While this video clip is graphic, there's something beautiful about the way people commune with nature and participate in the circle of life in a more organic, sustainable way than we in Western Civilization are used to. I appreciate the sense of ceremony and tradition that goes into this. How do you feel about this?
If you're interested, here's another clip that gives more information about the hunting:
For more information:
Mongolian Girls Carry On a Cherished 6,000-Year-Old Tradition With Golden Eagles
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