The Last Migration

THE LAST MIGRATION OF THE ATLAY MOUNTAIN EAGLE HUNTERS. It hasn’t snowed so much in the Atlay mountain range for the last seven years. It’s February, extremely cold - -30°C in daytime, and there is almost nowhere left for the animals to graze. Khayzym urgently needs to take his herd to a more favourable land where the grass is beginning to pierce through the snow before the lambing season, which is soon to begin. The journey will take between 5 and 10 days, depending on the weather. The herd will have to cross through snow-covered peaks standing at a height of 2600m, passing through the windswept plateau blowing icy winds from Siberia, and bear the freezing cold nights. To leave now is very risky, but if they wait any longer the new born will surely die. We follow khazym and his son, nomadic shepherds and eagle hunters, through extreme weather conditions on their journey. Like many khazaks from his region, Khazym has been making this journey since his childhood. Every February his parents used to make their way to lake Dayan Nuur, (« Lake of Abundance »), where the pastures are more fertile. Men, women, children and the elderly all used to accompany the herds on this perilous journey through the Altay in arctic conditions. This tradition goes back over 200 years but today's younger shepherds are starting to use trucks to transport their herds. This year, due to a lack of means, Khazym and a hundred or so other families , will follow the nomadic tradition and make this 150km journey on foot , the longest and most spectacular winter migration through the Altay mountains.

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