The Golden Eagle

The feast of the eagle of Olgii was born in 1999 thanks to the financing of an American-run tourist agency based in UB and the collaboration with the then nascent association of hunters with the Bayan Olgii eagle, The feast has helped to give new lymph to the practice of hunting with the eagle, attracting every year an increasing number of tourists from all over the world. For the Mongolian Kazakhs, hunting with eagles is a winter hobby not a profession, in fact they live on herding and winter is the time when the flocks require less attention. The Kazakhs began to move to this side of the Altai around 1840 to lead the flocks to the high mountain pastures during the summer months and then return to Kazakhstan and Chinese Xinjang in the winter months. After the Mongolian revolution of 1921 a permanent border line was established by virtue of an agreement between China, the USSR and Mongolia with the result that a large number of Kazakh nomads actually found themselves living in Mongolia. Hunters, usually descended from Burkitshi families, hunt in accordance with traditions by releasing the birds of prey after an adequate amount of time, 5-7 years or when the eagle reaches reproductive age. Despite the diatribe on the ethics or otherwise of breeding young birds of prey in captivity, the economic boost obtained thanks to tourism is undeniable, at the time of my stay it was possible to stay overnight in organized tented leaders but several new hotels were under construction in the center of the town of Olgii.