CPOY 72 International Picture Story Gold: In Her Footsteps

For 2000 years, Kazakh men have been hunting with golden eagles. Since the past centuries, most of them live in the Altai mountains of western Mongolia, where the traditions and knowledge have been passed on through the generations, always from father to son.

But recently, fifteen year old girl Aisholpan Nurgaiv changed the circumstances and shocked the eagle hunting society by being first female to enter and win the world's biggest eagle hunting competition.

This project follows the life of thirteen year old Bor Dameli Shokan, one out of very few young girls that are following in Aisholpans footsteps and started hunting. Right now Bor is training her own eagle to reach her dreams, hoping that one day she will become famous and accepted as a true eagle hunter.

Caption

Slide 6 of 8

March 9, 2017

Bors father, Semser Shokan, was taught the art of eagle hunting by his father when he was 14 years old. Over the years he have had ten different eagles. Samser think it's a good thing that girls have started to hunt. So far Bor have been following him to hunt only a few times, to watch and learn. But in a few months Semser expect his daughter to do her first hunt on her own. "Not all girls can be eagle hunters. You need to have the strength and a lot of passion to make it happen. Bor sure got both of that," Semser say.

Erik Nylander / Mid Sweden University

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