Golden Eagle

Golden eagles are monogamous, mating with one partner for life. They build huge nests in high places, including cliffs, trees, or human structures such as telephone poles. Golden eagles may return to the same nest for several years, making repairs as needed.

In late winter or early spring, the female lays two (less often, one) eggs. The chicks hatch in late May to June, but most frequently, only one chick survives. Both parents feed the chicks, which fledge in mid-July to August.

The berkut plays an important role in Kazakhstan’s culture and history. The Kazakh people have practiced hunting with golden eagles on horseback for centuries, training the birds to hunt foxes, badgers, and other small animals. A berkutchi, as the eagle hunter is called, spends two to three years preparing a bird for hunting, developing a special relationship with it.

This regal bird is also considered one of Kazakhstan’s “seven treasures” or “Jety Kazyna,” an ideological concept that identifies the necessary components of a complete and happy life. A hunting golden eagle is one of a young man’s three faithful friends (the first component of “Jety Kazyna”), together with a fast-footed horse and a tazy (Central Asian greyhound) breed of dog.

The greatest threat to golden eagles is human activity, direct or indirect. Human-induced threats include habitat loss, nest disturbance, persecution, electrocution, and collisions with overhead power lines and wind turbines.

Habitat loss. The most widespread threat to golden eagles, habitat loss occurs when urbanization and agricultural developments overtake nesting and hunting grounds, leading to declines in populations.

Disturbance at nest and roosting sites. Urbanization, recreation, forest management, and infrastructure development projects are all potential disturbances near golden eagle nests and roosting sites. Frequently, these disturbances cause parents to stay away from their nesting young for longer periods, reducing feeding frequency, exposing eggs or young to inclement weather, and leaving the nest vulnerable to predators.

Persecution. Throughout history, humans have persecuted golden eagles by shooting, trapping, or poisoning, due to their perceived impact on livestock, although studies have revealed that this impact was minimal. Illegal golden eagle killings are also fueled by the bird’s high black-market value, caused by the raptor’s cultural and religious significance.

Threats from overhead power lines. Similar to threats for other birds of prey, electrocution and collisions with overhead power lines are also leading causes of golden eagle mortality. Juvenile birds, being generally less skilled fliers and more likely to touch wires upon landing, are more at-risk than adults. Collisions with wind turbines also cause fatalities.

The golden eagle is listed in the international agreement CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Appendix II, an appendix that includes non-threatened species for which trade should be controlled to protect their survival.

This eagle has legal and regulatory protection in most European countries. In Asia, the raptor is afforded legal protection in most of its range stages and appears in the Red Books of most central, east, and south Asian countries.

In Kazakhstan, a government/private sector partnership launched the “Save the Berkuts” campaign in July 2024 to preserve and restore Kazakhstan’s population of golden eagles. The program continues the “Make Your Contribution: Save Nature” project, which ran from 2012-19. Under the program, the Sunkar Nursery for Birds of Prey, Kazakhstan’s only national raptor shelter, has raised and released more than two dozen golden eagles into the wild around Almaty, leading to a significant increase in their numbers in the region.