TITLE: The Last of the Eagle Hunters

As senior Golden Eagle hunters age out of the hunting tradition and younger nomads head to the city for opportunity, the custom of eagle hunting risks dying out. But with the help of Mongolia's Golden Eagle Festival—plus a group of young entrepreneurs looking to make the festival more sustainable—this Kazakh cultural practice might just stand a chance.

Prior to the pandemic, Mongolia’s Golden Eagle Festival had drawn tourists from around the world. Thanks to media exposure in films such as The Eagle Huntress and articles across publications including The New York Times and AFAR, the unique Mongolian Kazakh tradition of eagle hunting on horseback was drawing ever greater numbers of international attendees. In 2019 alone, up to 50% of the Golden Eagle Festival’s 1200-1500 attendees came from abroad, making the long trek to the far western province of Bayan-Ölgii to witness this eye-popping spectacle.

The pandemic, however, changed all that, limiting visitors’ ability to make the journey to see the eagle hunters in action. During the intervening years, locals and tourists alike had the opportunity to rethink the sustainability of the festival, from its impact on limited local infrastructure to the sacrifices eagle hunters must make in order to participate in this once-a-year showcase. As tourists trickled back in limited numbers in 2022, eagle hunters, festival organizers, local guides, and tourists discussed how festivals such as this have the potential to keep traditions alive—but only when done with sustainability in mind.

AUTHOR: Rachel Rudwall (United States)

If you want to know what it's like to climb Kilimanjaro, paraglide with a hawk (a.k.a. "parahawk"), ice climb while simultaneously acting as the Director of Photography on an EMMY-nominated TV show, or SCUBA dive cage-free with bull sharks, Rachel's the woman to ask. She likes the stuff that makes palms sweaty and brains explode with inspiration.

As an EMMY-Nominated On-Camera Host, Producer, Camera Operator, Writer, and Photographer, Rachel has traveled all seven continents, lived in three countries and journeyed through 70+ nations. Rachel loves dropping herself into faraway lands to relate their stories to outsiders. In fact, she does such a good job of it that she was recently named an Explorers Club "Fellow" alongside exploration greats like astronaut Buzz Aldrin, conservationist Jane Goodall, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary.

Rachel has had countless global adventures, ranging from TV hosting for Travel Channel's Epic Lists and ABC's FABLife, to digital hosting for TIME, Inc. and Tastemade, and from brand influencing for BMW and Chase Bank, to producing shows like Ice Road Truckers and Ax Men. Beyond the screen, Rachel writes articles and shoots photography for magazines like AFAR and Forbes, and shares further global inspiration through public speaking, including TEDx Talks, keynote addresses and workshops. She content produces live events for clients such as Google, coaches C-suite executives on storytelling at Fortune 500 companies, and consults with private clients to help them nail their elevator pitches.

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