URUMQI, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Seventy-year-old Kazakh herder Haymu has just experienced his proudest moment of the year.
He performed eagle hunting to over 10,000 visitors at an ice and snow festival on Jan. 10 in Qinghe County, in the northeast of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, along the Chinese border with Mongolia.
Haymu, who hails from a small town called Qagan Gol, learned the craft much later than is usual -- when he was 40 -- from his uncle. "Golden eagles are precious. Not everyone can tame them. My uncle passed on his bird to me when he became too old for it," he said.
Golden eagles are protected birds and falconry is banned in China. It took organizers of the ice festival a lot of hard work to give Haymu a platform.
"People like the Kazakh tradition of eagle hunting. Some have accused me of animal abuse, but I treat each and every eagle like family. I think of them more often than I think of my grandsons," Haymu said.
Haymu has had seven eagles over the past few years. The one he is currently training is only one year old.
"I feed him well in the summer, to help him grow. When it's cold, however, he needs to be more active and train, so he can learn to follow my instructions," he said, adding that January is the best time to train eagles.
The eagle, which lives in Haymu's yard, eats lamb meat and livers.
When the sun rises high, Haymu dons his fox fur hat, sheepskin coat, and felt boots -- the traditional attire for a falconer.
【国内英语资讯:Across China: The last Kazakh falconers in China】相关文章:
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