Honorable Mention TIFA 2021 People / Culture

Eagle Hunters, The Next Generation

  • Photographer
    Shobha Gopinath
  • Technical Info
    Olympus Omd Em!, M.zuiko Lenses
  • Photo Date
    Sep/Oct 2016

They run, they play, they squeal like kids everywhere. There’s no electricity, no running water. Their playground is the steppe and their playmates their livestock. The adults busy themselves with collecting water, herding, skinning, cooking, training or hunting with eagles. Female eagles are caught as chicks, nurtured and trained to hunt small animals like fox and rabbits. It’s a hard life. The terrain is harsh and the winters brutal. How many of these children will succumb to the lure of a city life? How many will stay and preserve the centuries old culture of eagle-hunting?