Mongolian Kazakhs’ Hunting Festival – “Berkutchi”

In the Bayan-Olgii district of Western Mongolia, the home of Mongolian Kazakhs, annual festive celebrations are under way: the face-off between “Kokhbar” riders, horse races and the main spectacle – the battle between Berkutchi hunters.

In the Bayan-Olgii district of Western Mongolia, the home of Mongolian Kazakhs, annual festive celebrations are under way: the face-off between “Kokhbar” riders, horse races and the main spectacle – the battle between Berkutchi hunters

Hunting with specially trained eagles is one of the most spectacular and ancient traditions of the Mongolian Kazakhs, handed down from one generation to the next

Hunting with the golden eagle or berkut is one of the most unique aspects of Kazakh life. The hunter is called a “berkutchi”. The skills of training the wild birds are passed down from one generation of Kazakh hunter to the next over centuries and are kept secret. There are no more than one thousand berkutchi on our planet. Around half of them live in Mongolia

Training the eagle is a high art. The captured bird eventually gets used to the owner. In order to do this, the hunter oftentimes stays awake many-a-night, making sure that his eagle is sleeping tightly
The bird must only receive food from the hands of its owner. After the eagle gets used to his owner, his horse and his dog, the berkutchi starts teaching it how to hunt

A specially-trained eagle can hunt for small animals: hares, foxes, quail
Guests from Japan, Hungary, France, Germany, Kazakhstan and Russia are invited to the annual Berkutchi festival
The festival’s participants take national costumes and other colourful attributes very seriously. The Kazakhs sincerely and lovingly preserve their ancestors’ heritage
The festival program includes contests for equipping the eagle, bait hunting, as well as live fox, hare and wolf hunting
There is special equipment for hunting with birds, without which grappling with a 6-7 kg bird would be no easy task!

An ethnic Kazakh celebrates after winning a prize with his golden eagle in the far west of Mongolia at the annual Eagle Festival in Bayan Oelgiy, Mongolia, 02 October 2010
Mongolian Kazakhs believe that for as long as the Berkutchi traditions are alive and young people want to preserve and propagate the heritage of their ancestors, their nation has a future





Share:

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Facebook page

Powered by Blogger.

Categories

Advertising in Mongolia An Asian Development Bank Culture Editorial of the Mongolianviews education Environmental protection Famous Mongolians Foreigners in Mongolia Inner Mongolia Ivanhoe Mines Mongolia Adventure Mongolia agriculture Mongolia air pollution Mongolia analysis Mongolia and Armenia Mongolia and Asian Development Bank Mongolia and Australia Mongolia and Azerbaijan Mongolia and Belorussia Mongolia and Bulgaria Mongolia and Cambodia Mongolia and Canada Mongolia and central Asia Mongolia and China Mongolia and Cuba Mongolia and Czech Mongolia and donors Mongolia and EU Mongolia and Germany Mongolia and Hongkong Mongolia and Hungary Mongolia and IFC Mongolia and IMF Mongolia and Ind Mongolia and India Mongolia and Indonesia Mongolia and Inner Mongolia Mongolia and Iran Mongolia and Israel Mongolia and Italy Mongolia and Japan Mongolia and Kazakhstan Mongolia and Korea Mongolia and Kuwait Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan Mongolia and Malaysia Mongolia and Nato Mongolia and North Korean Mongolia and Poland Mongolia and Qatar Mongolia and Russia Mongolia and Russia and Mongolia and China Mongolia and Singapore Mongolia and South Korea Mongolia and Taiwan Mongolia and Thailand Mongolia and the world Mongolia and Tibet Mongolia and Turkey Mongolia and UK Mongolia and Ukraine Mongolia and UN Mongolia and US Mongolia and USA Mongolia and Vietnam Mongolia Banking Mongolia blind Mongolia Cashmere Mongolia Christianity Mongolia civic society Mongolia Corruption Mongolia crime Mongolia diplomacy Mongolia Economy Mongolia Education Mongolia Energy Mongolia environment Mongolia Finance Mongolia Health Mongolia History Mongolia holiday Mongolia in international media Mongolia Industries Mongolia investment Mongolia Joke Mongolia law Mongolia LGBT Mongolia medical Mongolia military Mongolia Mining Mongolia Mining Developments Mongolia Mortgage Mongolia natural disaster Mongolia news media Mongolia Nuclear Mongolia Petroleum Mongolia Politics Mongolia Poverty Mongolia public announcements Mongolia railways Mongolia Religion Mongolia slums Mongolia society Mongolia Sports Mongolia Stamp Mongolia Sumo Mongolia telecommunication Mongolia tourism Mongolia trade Mongolia Transportation Mongolia Urbanization Mongolia Wild Life Mongolian Agriculture Mongolian and Cuba Mongolian Archeology Mongolian Climate Mongolian Food Mongolian Gay Mongolian Government news Mongolian History Mongolian Kazakh Mongolian Meat Mongolian Military Mongolian Mining Development Mongolian Movie Mongolian News Mongolian Parliament Mongolian Political news Mongolian Press Mongolian Songs Mongolian Sumo Mongolian Women Mongolian Youth Mongolians abroad Moninfo Opinion Oyu Tolgoi Investment Agreement Photo news Press Release Rio Tinto Tavan Tolgoi coal mine Ulaanbaatar development Weird expatriates in Mongolia World bank and Mongolia

Blog Archive

Followers