EAGLE HUNTERS OF KYRGYZSTAN By Richard Collett
O
n the rocky southern shore of Issyk-Kul Lake in the east of Kyrgyzstan, Nursultan waits patiently at the bottom of a dusty hill as his companion Aidar trudges to the top, a huge Golden Eagle gripped tightly onto his leather gauntlet. Nursultan begins to run, a smile on his face and a dead fox trailing on a rope behind him as he sprints along the road. With
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a whistle, Aidar lets Sulukke the golden eagle loose, and within moments she has gained on the carcass and is tearing it to pieces, powerful talons ripping into soft fur while her huge wings flap effortlessly in the wind. As Aidar treks back down the hill, Nursultan strokes the eagle’s head affectionately as he feeds her strips of raw pink meat from his open hand. “I won third place at the
World Nomad Games,” Nursultan says casually as he waits for his fellow eagle hunter to walk down the slope. Like many local nomads, Nursultan was on the northern shores of Issyk-Kul Lake earlier in the year for the sporting and cultural feast that is the World Nomad Games. He competed in the Berkut Saluu event where he demonstrated the hunting prowess of his bird of prey. For a Kyrgyz, third place was a big
