Eagle hunters swoop on remote festival

MORE than 700 years after Marco Polo wrote about them in his Travels, Kazakh eagle hunters are hoping their traditions will bring badly needed jobs to this remote corner of western Mongolia.

Some 200 hunters, wearing elaborate brocade gowns and fur hats, showed off their skills this weekend at the Golden Eagle Festival in the Altay mountains, where tourism is one of the few sources of income.

Swooping down from a cliff, the eagle lands on its master's arm as he gallops across the vast steppes.

The judges award points for the fastest time and best technique.

"Training the birds is not easy. You also need a good horse," said Abish Mekei, a professor at the National University of Mongolia. "While very few people know how to train the eagles, younger trainers learn the tradition from older masters."

Kazakhs, who make up less than 6 per cent of landlocked Mongolia's 2.5 million population, have used eagles since ancient times to hunt for marmots, small foxes and wolves.

But the festival has been held only since 2000 as a way of attracting visitors to a part of the country whose remoteness has starved it of investment.

Mr Mekei said: "Economic development of the area is very important, and tourism is an industry that supports employment."

Hunting with golden eagles is one of the unique features of Kazakh life. The hunter, named kusbegi or berkutchi, learns the experience of generations of Kazakhs. Names of birds are given depending on their appearance and battle characteristics.

More than 200 years ago the advance of the Russian Empire troops pushed Kazakhs to neighbouring countries. In the mid-19th century, Kazakhs came to Mongolia and settled in Bayan Ulgii, western Mongolia, and for the most of the 20th century they remained an isolated, tightly-knit community.

The tradition of hunting with eagles and falcons is believed to originate in central Asia some 6,000 years ago and was later adopted in Europe. Historical chronicles from the 13th century relay records of the famous Mongol emperor Kublai Khan's lavish hunting trips in autumn and winter involving thousands of people and horses. Falconers alone numbered more than 5,000.

Central Asia has always been the most important breeding ground for falcons who are now disappearing - cursed, it seems, by their own hunting skills because they are in high demand, especially across the Arab world, where falcon hunting is a popular pastime.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United Arab Emirates has been the main destination for thousands of falcons caught and sold illegally for hefty sums at the black market.

Kazakhstan is estimated to lose up to 1,000 saker falcons per year.

But governments in the region have embarked upon breeding programmes in a bid to help sustain the wild falcon population.

Hunters who train eagles choose either to snatch young chicks just a few months old from nests in the mountain tops or to lure young birds with pigeons and trap them.

Training requires an intimate knowledge and close bond with the birds. Young birds are kept for about a month or two during which they are fed with meat from their master's hands and become used to the presence of humans. In late summer they are "broken" by being tied to a wooden block so that they fall when they try to fly away.

During this time they are not given food. After few days they become exhausted and ready for training.

They are sat on a pole called a tugir and one of young men pulls a lure made of small animal skins in front of the bird. When it attacks the lure, called a shirga, it is given some meat as reward.

SEASONAL KILLERS

EAGLE hunting is mainly practised in the northern and central regions of Kazakhstan while in the south hunters prefer to use hawks and falcons.

Each is intended to hunt a particular type of animal. Apart from foxes, golden eagles are also used to catch hares. Strong, rapacious, well-trained eagles have proved useful for hunting hoofed animals and even wolves, while hawks are used for geese and bustards. Sparrowhawks are as a rule used for hunting hares while goshawks are used for quails. Falcons and merlins have proved to be excellent for hunting smaller birds.

In the past, hunting birds were extremely expensive. A good golden eagle could be exchanged for up to six camels, and a falcon for up to two.

The eagle hunting season starts with the first frosts and continues from November through February.

This schedule was established because animals have the best covering of fur in winter. Falcon and merlin hunting starts in late September when birds are preparing for migration and lasts until the first snow falls.