The Golden Eagle is the largest bird of prey and lives in the northern hemisphere. It is widespread in Europe and Asia. This bird is the favorite hunting companion of the Kazakhs in Altai in western Mongolia.
Dark brown all over, with golden sheen on head, Golden Eagles have very good eyesight and can spot prey from a long distance. The Golden Eagle has a resolving power 8x more powerful than a human. Kazakh nomads select the females for hunting, because they are larger than males, use their talons for killing and carrying the prey, and use their beaks only to eat.
Traditionally, Kazakh falconers hunt hares, foxes, manuuls and wolves. Today, the Association for the Protection of the Royal Eagle in Bayan Olgii includes about 400 falconer members. With only 95,000 Kazakhs in Mongolia, it is the largest eagle hunters’ community compared with 15 million Kazakhs in
Kazakhstan, Russia and China altogether.
Kazakhs consider that the courage and physical force of the golden eagle give positive energy to men. Falconers observe the birds living in the neighborhood. Eagles mate for life. The couples make eyries on high cliffs. In late March, April, female lays one or two brown spotted eggs. The incubation period lasts for 45-50 days. Parents feed the chicks for two months and gradually, the eaglet begins to learn to fly. Soon he/she hunts for himself/herself and afterwards leaves home.
The golden eagle can identify an animal from a distance of 400m. The eagle hunts on young wild sheep, ibex, antelopes and other large or small birds.
The eagle lives for about 35 years, the man would use it for 10 years and then they are released into the wild. The eaglet is often taken from his/her eyrie before he/she is able to fly. Otherwise, trainers catch the young wild eagle through trapping.
Then the bird is examined. The best specimen will be quick and with radiant eyes; the legs will be strong, nails and beak will be hard.
The eaglet is fed with raw meat every day. Then the meals are spaced and put far apart, the falconer calls them by a special cry. Then the training will start with the animal skin dragged behind a horse. The meat will be given in fox or marmot skin to accustom the eagle to hunting. If the eagle rebels and attempts to escape, it will not be fed and not allowed to sleep for 2 days and nights. One should never treat the eagle with violence otherwise, the eagle will become violent. Eagle should follow the diet to hunt. In spring and summer eagles are fat. In winter birds have to be hungry for hunting.
Kazakhs prefer to hunt after the first snow. They go up on horseback high in the mountains, remove the hood off the head of the eagle. The eagle sees its prey in the steppe and attacks quickly.--
