As Gail has observed, there is a tradition, and several videos on YouTube of
Mongolians using Golden Eagles to hunt wolves. I have seen videos with just
one eagle, but the wolf(ves) in question looked pretty scrawny, indeed, I
was thinking jackal. I'm not real conversant with the canids of Central
Asia.
Regardless, this tradition is shared throughout Central Asia. The Kazakhs
in Kazakhstan (and in Mongolia, for that matter) likewise practice it. See:
http://mosaicofsteppes.com/2012/03/04/berkutchi-kazakh-falconers/
Below if I can make this work, an old photo of two Kazakhs with Golden
Eagles on their arm, and a painting of uncertain vintage, again depicting a
Kazakh using a Golden Eagle or Berkut to take a wolf.
I will be discussing this, very briefly, in my talk to the Howard County
Bird Club on January 10: Birding Central Asia: How NOT to do it. Let's
just say that I was not as adept as Hank when I went!
You can read a modern account of taming a Golden Eagle in David Bruce's
"Bird of Jove," 1971, but when I read it, I felt that the conditions were,
or a least bordered on abusive. Of course, I'm not a falconer, have no
idea of what needs to be done, but found it distasteful nevertheless.
Kurt Schwarz
Ellicott City, HowCo
goawaybird at verizon dot net
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