Kyrgyz Eagle Hunting Tradition

Meet Tailgate and his trusty golden eagle Aitunuk. 🦅⁠ ⁠ In Kyrgyzstan, hunting with eagles is a national tradition that dates back thousands of years to a time when the practice was essential for the survival of nomadic civilizations. 🥘⁠ ⁠ These eagles are trained from a very young age to hunt foxes and jackals during winter, occasionally even taking on wolves—which is possible thanks to their incredibly strong vision and ability to exert powerful pressure to kill their prey. 😮⁠ ⁠ To bring this to life, Tailgate demonstrated how he trains Aitunuk by running with a meat-topped pelt, which Aitunuk flew at with great speed before striking, chowing down ferociously before adorably cleaning her beak on a stone. 💨⁠ ⁠ Check out my IG story for a visual. It was quite a sight! 😅⁠ ⁠ Have you ever heard of eagle hunting? 🌎