Eagle huntress

👧🏻 🦅 Nomadic tribe that lived along the Silk Road, observing and absorbing cultures they encounter, and over generations become an integral part of their own identity. What if the Silk Road encompassed a larger range, what if Aotearoa (New Zealand) was discovered during the peak of this trade route, how could the trading of goods and knowledge of this distant land influence those that lived alongside this great road.

We spot the cloud of dust rolling towards us and we pull over. Sain baina uu, we call out. 'Hello!' The man slows, stops. Spit flows from his horse's mouth. Rider and steed have been traveling for hours in the hot sun. They don't go much faster than a steady trot because perched on the man's arm, hooded and calm, is a large and majestic-looking eagle. 'Hello,' he replies, squinting down at us in the sunlight. This is my first

13-year-old Ashol-Pan is the only known female golden eagle hunter in Mongolia. Among the Kazakh people of the Altai mountain range in western Mongolia, hunting with golden eagles has been a way of life for thousands of years and boys begin to learn how to hunt for foxes and hares with the birds starting around age thirteen.

Aigerim, a young female eagle huntress from the Altai Mountain in Mongolia. Hunting with a golden eagle is tradition that is normally passed down to boys but Aigerim has proved to her father that she could do just as well. At home, she is an obedient daughter but on the competition ground, she is as fierce as her pet Golden Eagle. Her golden eagle listens to her commands and in return, Aigerim has complete trust in her wild friend that it won't hurt her with its hooked beak and claws.

The new documentary film 'The Eagle Huntress' underscores our ancient and medieval connections to birds of prey.

World, meet Aimoldot. She is the latest Eagle Huntress we met while in Mongolia last month. She is an accomplished Eagle Hunter and so much fun to spend time with. And I must say, she is a natural in front of the camera.

She is 1 of just 10 female eagle hunters left in Mongolia.

She is 1 of just 10 female eagle hunters left in Mongolia.

Jessica G. sent me a cool story from BBC News: For possibly the first time in 2,000 years, a 13-year old girl named Ashol-Pan has been apprenticed in Mongolia to hunt with Golden Eagles: WHOAH. Ashol-Pan is part of the Kazakhs of the Altai mountain range in western Mongolia, the only people today to hunt using Golden Eagles. BBC photographer Asher Svidensky spent time with 6 of their apprentice falconers, and described Ashol-Pan as being "more comfortable" and "more powerful" with the eagles…