I'm Gordon Buchanan, a wildlife cameraman.
Drive, drive, drive, drive! Go, go, go, go!
I've filmed animals for 25 years,
including some of the world's most dangerous.
HE WHISPERS: My hands are shaking.
But what's it like to live alongside fierce predators...
HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
..and raise your children with deadly neighbours?
So this bird has caught wolves before?
To find out, I'm going to live with three tribal families.
Not what I was expecting!
They'll show me these creatures from a new perspective.
HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
Getting me closer to these animals than I've ever been before.
In the Solomon Islands, I saw if it's possible to live with sharks.
It is spooky as hell down there.
In Mongolia, I'll try to bond with the golden eagle.
She's not a rifle or a shotgun, but she's every bit as lethal.
And in Ethiopia I learn to walk with Africa's hyenas.
HE WHISPERS: I can hear the crunching of bones.
I'm completely surrounded.
Spending time with these people will be a life-changing experience.
Transforming my understanding of the animals we fear most.
This is western Mongolia.
I'm in the heart of the Altai Mountains,
one of the most remote places on the planet.
The Kazakh people of this area have developed a formidable
hunting partnership with golden eagles.
It's a relationship that stretches back thousands of years.
Two of the world's top hunters, human beings and eagles,
working side by side.
The sheer power of the golden eagle is awe-inspiring.
They've been a symbol of strength for kings, gods and empires.
Their predatory instincts were harnessed by Kazakh nomads,
who used them to hunt for fur to survive the freezing winters.
VOICEOVER: A Kazakh family have agreed to teach me
how they work with these incredible birds.
It's exciting for me in Scotland to see a golden eagle
soaring in the sky a mile away.
So to be here and to have the opportunity to really
get to know these birds is...
..wonderful.
Mongolia is sparsely populated,
so there's plenty of space for golden eagles to hunt.
Elsewhere, these birds are often persecuted,
but here they're respected.
The Kazakhs of this region know more about golden eagles
than anybody else.
Speaking of which, I think this is who I've come to meet.
Yeah, I can see goats, I can see camels, I can see horses,
I can see people, and on the arms of these people are eagles.
What a phenomenal sight!
Something quite...
formidable about three men on horseback, holding eagles.
This feels like one of the most impressive things I've ever seen.
This is epic!
Hello.
I'm Gordon.
HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE Hello, hello, hello.
Hello, horses. Hello, eagles. Hello, people.
I'm Gordon. Good to meet you. Good to meet you.
VOICEOVER: Sailau will be my mentor.
He's 65 and one of the top eagle hunters in the area.
His eagle looks formidable.
So this bird has caught wolves before?
Training starts right here.
To be hit by the wing, you can feel the power.
Right. Hand in glove.
VOICEOVER: I'm surprised by how unnerving it is
to be this close to an eagle.
I have no idea how to handle her.
There we go.
VOICEOVER: Her wingspan is over two metres
and her sharp talons could do me some serious damage.
Sailau, is it OK being this close?
It is exquisite looking.
Now that the hood's come off, you can see her eyes.
To have an eagle in my hand like this is intimidating.
This isn't like...
stroking a dog or patting a horse.
This is just one of the world's most powerful living things.
VOICEOVER: Sailau needs to continue herding the animals up to camp.
He tells me to follow.
One thing I wasn't expecting was to feel intimidated by the eagles,
and I was. To feel the strength in its talons,
to see how sharp its claws were and its beak,
I think one of the most intimidating experiences of my life.
But I don't want to do anything wrong.
I don't want to injure the bird and I certainly don't want to be injured
by the bird.
Anything I can do to describe this scene in front of me...
doesn't do it justice.
It's an entire family migrating.
Look at the camels. They've got their accommodation there.
The hunters with their eagles, the costumes that they're wearing,
it's beyond exciting.
I'll be spending a couple of weeks with Sailau and his family
at this spring camp...
learning about golden eagles from the experts
as I help them train a young eagle to hunt.
I'm Gordon.
SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
Pensya. Pensya? Nice to meet you, Pensya. I'm Gordon.
Pensya.
VOICEOVER: Now we're all here, our first job is to finish
building the camp.
OK, this is a ger.
This is accommodation.
House.
So three camels, one house?
Trying to make a house out of matchsticks.
Each individual part doesn't give you much support,
but once it all goes together,
once it's all kind of meshed and lashed and tied,
there's real strength in it.
This is good training for holding an eagle.
Less exciting than holding an eagle.
If you're having to move five, six times a year,
it's not actually that much work.
A couple of hours and then that's it, you could be in it for
a month or two.
Really lovely. I think the variety of tents that I have
and have to put up, they're all made of kind of
artificial, man-made fibres.
Every part of this is natural.
It's cotton, it's felt, it's wood, it's leather.
Finished?
Well done.
Thank you.
With the ger finished, Sailau wants me to start my eagle training.
These eagles aren't pets.
They're working animals, so he doesn't give them names.
In time, they'll be released back to the wild to breed.
Sailau's eagle is eight, in the prime of her life,
so he needs to release her soon.
The bird I'm going to be training could become Sailau's
new hunting companion.
Like blinkers on a horse, the hoods minimise distractions
and keep the eagles calm when they're not being flown.
My first task is to select an eagle to work with.
An eagle's training starts when it's less than a year old.
Kazakhs always hunt with females,
as they're larger and fiercer than males.
EAGLE SQUAWKS LOUDLY
I'll go for the noisy one. It's drawing more attention to itself.
Hello.
I'll try and pick it up.
VOICEOVER: I hope I've picked the right hunting partner.
I know absolutely nothing about training eagles.
I can't tell these two birds apart, which is more experienced.
The only difference that there is...
EAGLE SQUAWKS LOUDLY
..is the obvious one.
That is deafening!
Shh, shh, shh.
Flying an eagle is a difficult skill, which takes years to master.
Top eagle hunters regularly compete with each other
to keep their skills sharp.
Sailau hopes that I can train a young bird to hunt
and that we can take on some of the area's best hunters in a tournament
next week.
Now that I've selected an eagle,
Sailau wants me to learn how to launch it.
In a real hunt, the launch is everything.
The eagle wears leather straps called jesses.
They're her physical connection to the hunter.
The precise timing of removing the hood and breaking that connection
is vital for the bird to take off.
Like cheetahs, eagles are fast but don't have much endurance.
As my training progresses,
I'll need to learn the right moment to release the bird,
taking account of the wind.
SAILAU SHOUTS AT THE EAGLE
Whoa!
VOICEOVER: The bird flies straight to Sailau.
He's worked with eagles for almost 50 years
and knows how to win their trust.
Oh, this is one of the most exciting days of my life!
Lower.
VOICEOVER: Now it's my turn. Will she trust me?
Kaa!
Kaa! Kaa!
VOICEOVER: But despite my calls - and holding the glove correctly -
the young eagle showed no interest in flying to me.
Not what I expected.
I was expecting it just to literally see the meat
and I wouldn't even have to say anything, it would fly towards me.
It's a bad start.
An eagle hunter needs to be able to call his eagle,
so that she doesn't fly off.
I'm worried that this eagle isn't warming to me.
Before we turn in, I want to ask Sailau about the bond
that's grown between him and his bird.
With my eagle, am I the boss, am I the master,
and the eagle's the servant?
But sometimes these relationships are not always smooth.
Sometimes these relationships can be...
Can go wrong.
How can I make that bond stronger?
So she can sleep in here tonight?
In my bed? GORDON LAUGHS
You'll be lying here.
But you said to treat her like my wife.
I wouldn't leave my wife on the floor.
Thank you very much.
VOICEOVER: As I bed down for the night,
I wonder if I'll ever achieve the bond and trust
needed for a successful hunting partnership.
HE WHISPERS: Don't know if I can talk any louder.
I think she's gone to sleep now.
Which is wonderful because, if she's asleep,
it means that I can go to sleep.
And if she starts that infernal squawking
in the middle of the night... she's going straight outside.
Night-night.
This eagle is sleeping like a baby. SAILAU SNORES
But it's obviously pretty weird,
lying in a bed a few metres away from a sleeping eagle hunter.
SNORING GETS LOUDER
He's quite tired. He's crashed out with all his clothes on.
Better not wake my eagle.
VOICEOVER: Tomorrow, my eagle training will continue.
The one thing that was good,
the eagle was very, very quiet through the night.
VOICEOVER: Breakfast is tea, with hard cheese and bread.
I'm ready.
Little grows in this part of Mongolia.
The soil is poor and the temperature can drop to minus 30.
The family's sheep and goats
are their main source of food and of barter.
In other parts of the world,
golden eagles are killed for taking livestock,
but the Kazakhs protect and revere all birds.
Even in the day, the lambs are kept in the corral for their protection.
As well as golden eagles,
wolves, foxes and snow leopards hunt in this area...
and would easily take them.
A wild eagle would be able to snatch a little sheep
like this very easily. LAMB BLEATS LOUDLY
You kind of realise, because all the bigger animals,
the camels and the horses and the cattle all stay out,
but all the sheep are corralled up at night-time.
You are the most vulnerable member of this happy gang
of assorted animals.
LAMB BLEATS LOUDLY Shush!
With the sheep taken care of, the young eagle's training can continue.
How high are we going to go up?
My hope is that, after our night together,
our bond is stronger so she'll perform better with me.
There you go, girl.
SAILAU CALLS FOR THE EAGLE
Off you go.
Whoa!
Some kind of sense of freedom is passed from the bird to you
when you let it go like that, and it's really lovely
to be the one that's allowing her to do that.
VOICEOVER: I try again to call her down.
I'm ready.
Kaa! Kaa! Kaa!
But she still won't fly to me.
This is not a good sign.
THEY CALL FOR THE EAGLE
GORDON WHISPERS: Come on, you beauty.
Nicely does it!
Well done.
But her reluctance shows we're not well bonded.
I was full of fear there.
Fear initially that I thought she wasn't going to come,
and then fear that she was going to knock me over.
VOICEOVER: I worry that this eagle and I won't hunt well together.
So Sailau and Botei want to see if the quieter bird and I
are a better fit.
They'll then judge which eagle I'll continue to train.
Whoa!
She went straightaway.
After seeing me fly this bird,
Sailau thinks we'll make a great team.
OK.
I'm ready.
Onwards and upwards.
VOICEOVER: I hope this eagle works out.
I'm going to brace myself.
We're due to go hunting together in just a few days.
Oh, wow! Oh, my God!
Oh!
Boom! Hello.
Large distances must be covered to find any prey here.
So eagle hunting is done on horseback.
I have to prove to Sailau that I can not only handle an eagle...
This is my horse?
..but do it while riding a horse.
If you let me off, you can see if you think I'm ready
to ride the horse. Yeah?
VOICEOVER: Kazakhs are some of the best riders in the world.
I'm desperate to impress.
I used to ride a lot as a boy.
I hope I'm not too rusty.
Happy?
He's good. I think he's a bit lazy.
That's more like it!
I finish my riding trial, just in time.
A spring snowstorm is moving in.
Good idea.
Inside, the ger is surprisingly cosy,
a welcome contrast to the bleak landscape outside.
Kazakhs depend on their animals -
goats for meat, horses for riding,
camels for milk and heavy loads,
and eagles to hunt.
The animals also rely on them for protection...
..and food.
Hand feeding my new eagle
strengthens our relationship in the run-up to the hunt.
Don't worry, not long.
So she knows what this means, she knows that there's food around.
Don't you?
I'm just washing this meat.
VOICEOVER: I need to spend as much time as possible with her,
to build up trust.
Let's go. Up you come.
Right, lunch is nearly there.
Right.
Look at this!
That's not quite what I wanted to do.
OK, there we go, that's better.
Eagles have got this reputation of being...
..being vicious and I think kind of being rapacious.
And you can see right here, she's just bolting down this...
this meat. It's all gone.
All that is gone within around about 60 seconds.
I think a lot of what the relationship is about is that eagles
can do the thing we can't, they can fly.
Every human being would love to be able to fly.
We'd love to have the eyesight of an eagle,
we'd love to have the strength and the power.
I suppose the relationship that you're developing with an eagle
that you're training is that it's part of you.
It's actually about... merging with the bird.
So it is...
It's like an extension of your arm.
Thank you. Thank you.
This is very beautiful.
Really nice.
All the animal skins, have you hunted them with eagles?
You still look young.
With the eagles, have either of you ever been injured or hurt by them?
Oh, yeah. GORDON LAUGHS
It went in one side, out the other side, and it wasn't very painful?
I think you're going to get very tired very quickly
because I'm going to keep asking lots of questions.
OK, that's good. Thank you, thank you.
It's been a good start,
but I'll need to strengthen our connection
before I can fly her from horseback.
As the days pass, I spend as much time as I can with my young eagle.
As I get to know her, she gets to know me.
I'm really pleased with how I'm bonding with this eagle,
but the one thing the kind of tripped me up is that
I'm constantly wondering what the eagle is thinking,
what's going through its mind?
Maybe it's just simply about food. All it really cares about is...
..is not being hungry.
VOICEOVER: All I care about is not messing up.
This feels like a huge moment.
Sailau is going to teach me how to ride with the eagle,
and then we'll try a launch.
Come on. This is a massive test, really, for me.
I just don't want to mess it up. And this is where I want to be.
I want to progress, I want to be one step closer towards going on a hunt,
and this is...
maybe the biggest part of it,
actually riding and handling the eagle, all at the same time.
VOICEOVER: It feels good to be riding out together.
But I'm finding it hard to carry the eagle and control the horse
with just one hand.
I'm realising that an eagle hunter has to kind of work,
three parts have to come together - the man, the horse and the eagle -
and that is no mean feat. I'm really struggling with it.
All the eagle has to do is just one little tug
and she'll be away if I'm not ready,
so I'm having to grip her really tight.
Up we go. Up.
Settle down. Settle.
Eagles attack from above, so the Kazakhs try to fly them
from the highest possible launch site.
This is how young eagles are trained,
by dragging a piece of fur and calling the eagles down towards it.
GORDON SHOUTS LOUDLY
It's the skill we'll be tested on in the tournament next week.
I need to time the removal of the hood and the release of the jesses
even more carefully now we have a moving target.
Out in the open, I'll also have to think about wind direction
and the terrain.
Yes!
Golden eagles can reach over 150mph in a dive.
They're the second fastest animal on Earth.
Peregrines are faster, but eagles are much more powerful.
Straight down onto it.
I've judged the release well.
My eagle flies right to the lure...
..but there's no time to celebrate.
Sailau tells me to get eagle off the pelt as quickly as possible.
In a real hunt, the eagle could damage the precious animal fur.
Steady there.
Steady. Ten out of ten.
But in the heat of the moment...
Don't let go of... Oh, no, no, no, no!
..I make a painful mistake.
While trying to retrieve the lure, she sinks a talon deep into my hand.
Trying to get the meat off of her, and she sunk her...
talon right into my hand.
It's not your fault. It's not your fault. That was my fault.
Ow!
I could feel it, actually. It went...
all the way in through between my fingers
and kind of stopped at my palm and didn't quite puncture through.
Oh, that's not your fault.
That's not your fault. Stay away from my eyes.
I need to wash this out.
It's a sobering reminder of how eagles hunt.
Talons over two inches long are driven into prey.
They can easily kill an animal ten times their weight.
Dinner is boiled horse ribs and mutton.
Animals that were killed at their fattest,
six months ago before winter, and the meat dried.
Tomorrow, we leave on a two-day hunting trip.
My eagle will try to catch her own food.
It's OK.
It's the type of mistake you don't make too often.
It's quite a painful lesson.
It's an important day.
We're getting ready to take my eagle
on her very first hunting expedition.
To be honest, I'm nervous about the hunt,
especially after yesterday's incident.
But the family's confidence in me and my eagle is heartening.
Is this for me? Nice one.
Oh, yeah!
Oh, now I really look like a hunter!
Dressing up like an eagle hunter doesn't make you an eagle hunter.
The real test is when we get out there to see whether we can
actually hunt, me and this magnificent bird.
It's half a day's ride to the hunting grounds.
A camel helps carry camping gear and provisions.
We're going up into the mountains to hunt for hares.
In this vast landscape,
it's easy to see why an eagle is the perfect hunting partner.
On my ride up, I've time to think about what's coming.
Back home, I don't need to hunt for food or clothing.
I'm beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable taking part.
Everything that I've learned so far,
it's kind of felt a little bit of a game, and now we're actually out...
..actively hunting another animal,
and I'm not sure I like that.
She's not a rifle or a shotgun, but she's every bit as lethal.
I kind of feel that I'm the one
that's going to be pulling the trigger.
Sailau says this is a good place to begin.
His plan is to split into two teams.
The three of us with birds head to the ridge.
The younger men go to the valley floor to flush out prey.
Then we wait.
After 20 minutes, a shout goes up.
SOMEONE SHOUTS
The first hare breaks cover.
I don't think I'm going to see the rabbit at that distance,
but the eagle presumably will.
Oh, yeah, I can see it, I can see it. Can you see it?
Then it all goes wrong.
Oh, no, no. No, no, no, no!
In the flurry of my first hunt, I don't hold on tightly enough
to my eagle, and she breaks free.
Releasing an eagle with her hood on is incredibly dangerous.
A blind bird can easily get injured.
God, I got a real fright there.
I was just worried that she'd start soaring and circling and getting
higher and higher and she wouldn't be able to see anything
and then she'd crash to the ground.
You're all right. Sorry.
It's a basic error on my part.
I feel embarrassed I messed up so badly.
We don't spot any more prey,
so Sailau thinks it's best to try again tomorrow.
We're miles from our base.
It'll be dark soon, so we set up camp for the night.
There's a huge amount to be lost if this tradition was to go away.
It's not a hobby.
It was necessity.
If you wanted to get furs to keep you warm in winter,
you had to hunt those animals,
and the best way of doing it was to harness the expertise
of an eagle and the strength of a horse
and the carrying capabilities of a camel.
It's a thing of great beauty,
the entire hunting party.
It's not necessarily just about me and the eagle.
It's bigger than that, you know, all the way up to
the environment itself and what it might provide for us.
I'll be very warm.
I'm over halfway through my stay here
and I'm beginning to understand why the hunters
love these powerful birds so much.
At first, I was intimidated by my eagle,
but now I feel we quite like each other's company.
This morning, we're going to try a different hunting strategy.
Botei thinks that there might be
hares across the other side of the valley.
And he's right.
After yesterday's mistake,
I need to focus on removing the hood then releasing the jesses,
taking into account wind direction and prey position.
It's my young eagle's first attempt at hunting.
It's coming straight towards us. Use your eyes, use your eyes.
As yet, we don't know if she has the skills
they look for in a great hunter.
To the right, to the right.
THEY SHOUT
Sailau's bird gives up early,
but my young one is showing amazing stamina.
Come on! My bird's overtaking it. Come on!
VOICEOVER: She's pursuing the hare right to the end.
She's still chasing it.
She's given up. Come on!
Very close. Very, very close.
Trouble was, the land was against her.
The hare started going uphill,
which was a clever move on the part of the hare.
In this rough terrain, the hares aren't as easy prey as they look.
They use slopes and rocks to their advantage.
We try again. This time, my eagle attacks from a greater height.
By zigzagging and running uphill,
the hare lives to fight another day.
My young bird is showing promise,
but today the hares are outwitting the eagles.
They are one of the world's ultimate predators,
but they know when to quit.
Amazing.
I was copying Botei.
He took it off first.
So seeing this eagle in action, does it excite you about her potential?
Soon, you'll have a new eagle.
So all we need is new knees, and you'll be like a young man again.
The hunting trip has helped my eagle and I to gel as a team.
Now we're heading home.
Sailau's organised an eagle flying tournament for tomorrow.
Time for some last-minute training.
I've brought some camera technology that might help.
Sailau, what I'd like to do...
is fit a small camera.
It'll just give us the eagle's point of view,
but the thing I'm most excited about is actually being able to show
Botei and Sailau the images that we get from the camera.
I think we're good. I think we're good.
Up we come.
Pre-flight check.
There you go, girl. Whoa! Straightaway.
Camera's looking a bit wibbly wobbly.
Wind's against her.
Come on! No, you need a bit more wind to bring you up.
Up you come. Whoa!
Up she goes.
It's great to see that, despite the wind, she stays on target.
I wonder what Sailau and Botei will think of the footage.
Good girl. Right.
Right, let's have a look at this. OK.
Botei, if you want to come round and have a look.
This is the first one.
Whoa!
The eagle can't see.
And she's off straightaway.
Oh, wow! See how she banks round? She's so low to the ground.
She looks as if she's going to hit those boulders. Whoa!
Anything out in the open, you realise...
any animal's not going to stand a chance,
trying to get away from an eagle, because there's no cover.
She is like a fighter jet, the way she just banks round.
Whoa!
Oh!
That was great. Watch this.
She pulls the camera off.
That's the last thing a hare sees before it dies.
Well done.
Sailau and Botei seem pleased with my eagle's progress.
I just hope that I've done enough
not to embarrass myself in the tournament.
I'm feeling very daunted by the prospect of competing
against these mighty hunters.
That is an incredible scene.
Wow!
You know what? This actually kind of reminds me of when I arrived
right at the beginning. Seeing a man on horseback with an eagle
is a sight that is as impressive...
the hundredth time as it was the first time. It is amazing.
In honour of the occasion,
Sailau has killed one of his goats to share for lunch.
It's the first fresh meat for six months.
These men are all good friends and fierce rivals.
They've competed many times together.
As the new boy here,
I've brought along something to try and get on their good side.
You're going to love this.
This is a dish from my country, from Scotland.
It's Scotland's national dish.
It's called haggis.
Sailau is a highly respected eagle hunter in this community.
He's beaten many of these men in competitions.
After lunch, the hunters are keen for me to see their skills.
Their mastery of horses and eagles is incredible.
Their showmanship is intimidating.
Let's go.
The rivalry builds as they compete in traditional Kazakh sports.
Then it's time for the eagles.
This competition will be judged on the eagles' speed and accuracy
from launch to lure.
Pretty good. Pretty good.
That Eagle was looking great.
And it was maybe within five metres of the drag,
and the gust caught it and it was like that,
it was 200 metres up in the air.
As more eagles take their turn, it seems these windy conditions
are tough - even for the best hunters.
Any eagle that touches the ground,
the hare that it's after is going to be long gone,
so it has to land directly on the drag.
THEY LAUGH
There are eight people competing today,
and my turn is fast approaching.
I get the impression that everybody's looking at me,
just thinking I'm sort of some tourist playing at this,
but this is deadly serious for me,
I want to kind of show all these men that I know what I'm doing.
It's the big moment.
We'll score well if she flies fast and straight to the lure.
I've got to time removing the hood and releasing the jesses just right
to allow for wind gusts and the movement of the lure.
GORDON SHOUTS
At last, a perfect launch.
This is great. That is looking perfect.
Woohoo!
Everything has finally come together,
and I've proved to Sailau that my eagle and I can do this.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Now the competition is over,
Sailau tells me that tomorrow he will release
his eight-year-old eagle back to the wild.
After working with her for so long,
it'll be like losing a member of his family.
As my final day arrives, we're all feeling anxious
about what lies ahead.
I've only been here for a short time,
but I feel an ease and closeness between us all.
It's cold.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
This is an incredibly difficult day for Sailau.
It's a unique relationship that the hunters have with these animals.
Only they catch, hunt with and then release a predator back to the wild.
He's chosen a special place to let her go.
Near to good hunting grounds
and the nest where he found her as a chick.
This eagle has been a big part of Sailau's life.
She's not only been his hunting partner,
but also his companion for nearly a decade.
Removing these leather jesses after so long
is to physically, as well as emotionally, give her her freedom.
It must be difficult.
Up you go.
Despite the fact this eagle has been brought up with people,
she's been hunting regularly,
so still has her killer instincts and skills.
Golden eagles can live for over 20 years.
With so much of her life ahead of her,
I hope she'll go on to raise many chicks.
I can't imagine what that must be like,
to let go of an animal that you've spent so much time with.
I'm slightly bewildered by it, that he just...
He walks away from it.
I struggle to understand how you can just sort of...
sever that bond.
I suppose maybe that's sort of the ultimate symbol of Sailau's love
for his eagle, is that he will do what is best for it,
and setting it free is undoubtedly the best thing.
It's sad.
I think there's something really beautiful about the relationship
between the hunter and the eagle,
but maybe the ultimate beauty
is the fact that, on the hillside behind me,
there is an incredible bird
that is truly free.
I'm not sure I've ever learnt so much in such a short space of time.
The privilege of being able to be so close to one of the world's most
incredible hunters, one of the world's top predators,
that's something that'll stay with me...
forever.
Now that Sailau has said goodbye to his eagle,
it's time for me to say farewell to mine.
Hey, you.
You beauty.
It doesn't seem long ago that I was completely out of my depth,
terrified of even being close to these birds.
The best hunting partner ever.
But now I feel a close connection, not only to her,
but to this place...
OK.
..and these people.
Botei.
Thank you.
I'll never forget everything that I've learnt here.
It's been amazing. It's been really amazing.
It is very sad to leave.
In the time I've been here, they've taught me about their way of life,
their eagles. It's something that I will never, ever forget.
It is truly one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had.
These people have formed an emotional partnership
with a top predator.
They've shown me that it is possible to bond with golden eagles.
A creature persecuted elsewhere,
that here is embraced
as part of a very special family.