TO NORTHERN & WESTERN MONGOLIA
KAZAKS AND EAGLES
While travelling around Bayan-Ölgii, you may come across Kazaks living in slightly larger and darker-coloured gers. Some are eagle-hunters who train eagles, falcons and kawks to collect marmots, small foxes and wolves. If you ask nicely, the Kazaks may proudly show you theirs birds. In the Kazak tradition known as hawking, which dates back about 2000 years, young birds of prey are caught in nearby valleys, fattened up and washed. The birds' training involves being kept awake for weeks at a time, sitting on a pole called a tugir, and catching small-animals skins called shirga thousands of time. If well trained, a bird can live and hunt for about 30 years. The best places to find Kazak eagle-hunters are at Buyant near Khovd city, the Tsast Uul region between Khovd and Bayan Ölgii and in the most Bayan Ölgii province.
