Hunting with eagles is an ancient tradition practiced by the Kasachen, a Turkik people that inhabit north-central Asia. The falconers known as Berkutschi spend much of their lives training their birds, and competitions like this are what reward them for all of their hard work. The birds used here are falcons, and they can grow to have a wingspan of more than two meters. Female animals are preferred because they become bigger and often more aggressive than the smaller males. The following pictures are from a hunting competition in Karkaralinsk, Kazakhstan. The specially trained falcons find the victims, chase, catch and bring the bodies to the hunters. Due to the large size of the eagles, they hunt larger prey such as foxes in addition to rabbits. Despite how it may seem, the prey is quite agile so it is often a difficult task for the falcon to succeed. The final picture is of the winners with their birds. The cardboard boxes in the foreground contain their prizes which range from TVs to vacuum cleaners.

Photos by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters found here.

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1. Ryan Says:
   February 10th, 2011 at 10:28 am

   Damn chinese thats cruel! I don’t care about the small rodents like mice or rabbits but come on foxes?! Thats horrible