A correspondent from Turmush spoke with the falconer.
Zhanibek Ashyrov was born in 1988 in the Talas region, is married, and has three children. Since childhood, he has been interested in animals, keeping partridges and pheasants, and his father always helped him with their care. "My interest in birds arose when I saw people taking care of them," he shares.
Zhanibek started with a quail hawk (kyrgy), then tried a common kestrel (zhagalmai), and is now working with a saker falcon (itelgi). One of the hawks, which was found by children in poor condition, became his friend for 4 years.
He raised the falcon (tuigun) for 5 years and then released it when it became strong enough to live in the wild.
Zhanibek considers saker falcons (including turumtai, zhagalmai, lachyn, shuumkar) to be beautiful and loyal. He notes their flight speed and that they kill their prey before eating it. "This requires patience and develops resilience in a person," he says.
Each bird has its own character, which is important to understand. "Some of them can be sensitive, so it's important to take care of them, pet them, and feed them on time," the falconer explains.
Zhanibek continues to learn from the best falconers in the country and expresses gratitude to his mentors. He is also thankful to the head of the "Bughu Ene" foundation for assistance in rehabilitating sick animals, as well as to his family, who supports his passion.
At the "Bughu Ene" foundation, Zhanibek works as a falconry expert and is involved in rehabilitating birds so they can return to the wild after recovery.
The birds raised by Zhanibek achieve success at festivals. At the latest hunters' festival ("Mergen festival") in the Chui region, his saker falcon named Belek took first place in catching live prey. At the Manas Games in the Batken region, where 9 teams competed, the same Belek took third place.
Zhanibek is concerned about the disappearance of saker falcons and wants to find a male to breed with his Belek. He also raised an important issue for all falconers: "The difficulties with documenting birds are very relevant. It would be good if the government paid attention to this problem," he added.
By profession, Zhanibek is a financier, but together with his family, he runs a confectionery business and is engaged in agriculture.
