Hunting with birds of prey has a long history. This form of hunting dates back to the 12th-13th centuries when the Mongol during their conquests have spread this tradition in whole Central Asia.
It is said that the price of a trained hunting eagle rivaled the price of the finest horses. Tribes of Central Asia have long been known to have used eagle for wolf hunting. Marco Polo has already reported that plenty of eagles have been tamed to catch wolves, foxes, deer and wild goats. While eagle hunting has been forgotten in most places in the region, it is still a living tradition in Kyrgyzstan.
Usually, eagles are already brought to their owners as chicks. Grooming chicks takes a lot of time and patience. It is very important that only one person deals with the birds. They will be trained daily for 2-3 years until they are finally ready to hunt. They are hunted until they reach sexual maturity, but in this case they are released so that the eagle population can continue to reproduce.
Ruslan, the eagle hunter, lives with his family in a village near Kochkor. As his father, who was also an eagle hunter, his love for eagles has developed as a child, . As he said, he grew up among the eagles in the yard of their house, where he watched with pleasure as his father cared for and taught the large-bodied birds. Ruslan himself has been an independent eagle hunter for 17 years and currently deals with 5 birds of prey. Musa, his 15-year-old son, is also here to help with this, and so this beautiful tradition will pass from father to son.
A hunter demonstration was also given to us during our visit to Kochkor. It was amazing to see the elemental strength and speed of the eagles, but at the same time their full obedience to their owner. During the show, Ruslan also talked to the eagles, gave the instructions with love, and finally proudly acknowledged that his favorites hadn’t let him down in front of the astonishing strangers.
