Many of us have perhaps never even seen a child so at ease with a bird of prey. This photo, taken in Mongolia by photographer Asher Svidensky, captures a 13-year-old girl’s friendship with a golden eagle. The series of photographs are stunning, capturing perfectly the chemistry between Ashol-Pan, a teenage girl and a captivating golden eagle.
According to Svidensky, Kazakh boys in Western Mongolia are trained from a fairly young age to develop relationships with golden eagles and use them as hunting partners. But to see a young girl in her element makes for another sight entirely.
One can only imagine how strong the child feels with the powerful-yet-loyal beast on her arm. The BBC quotes Svidensky as saying “To see her with the eagle was amazing. She was a lot more comfortable with it, a lot more powerful with it and a lot more at ease with it.”
The children reportedly send the birds into battle, and if one of them misses out on a prey another one swoops in for the kill. Svidensky captures these spectacular images showcasing the unity between man and nature. He claims the ‘eagle hunters’ ensure that the eagles go back to nature and have their own strong newborns, for the sake of future generations.
This way, future generations of Kazakh children can grow up forging friendships with these majestic birds of prey, just like Ashol-Pal!