All activities / Witness / Attend / Almaty
Witness / Attend in Almaty
Kazakhstan's largest city and cultural capital, a leafy former national capital below the Zailiysky Alatau mountains, home to the country's major art museums, the Sunkar raptor centre in the foothills, and the main gateway to the lakes, canyons and ski slopes of the southeast.
Why here
Hunting with golden eagles, berkutshy in Kazakh, is one of the oldest living traditions of the Central Asian steppe, and the mountains around Almaty are the easiest place to see it done by people who still practise it. The falconry that underpins it is inscribed on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, a listing Kazakhstan is part of. In the Big Almaty gorge the Sunkar raptor centre, a breeding and rehabilitation project for saker falcons and eagles, runs a daily flight demonstration, while berkutshy families in villages east of the city show the older winter craft of riding out with a trained eagle on the arm. Seeing the bird launch, stoop and return is the point, a close look at a skill passed down through generations rather than a staged show alone.
Best months
Two experiences overlap here. The Sunkar centre's flight demonstration runs through much of the year, typically late afternoon and closed one day a week, and is an easy half-day from the city. The authentic winter hunt, when a berkutshy rides out with a golden eagle across snow, is a cold-season affair from roughly November to February and is arranged privately with a hunter, often paired with a visit to a village berkutchi house. Dress warm for the winter option and confirm timing in advance.
Getting there & around
The Sunkar raptor centre sits in the Big Almaty gorge south of the city, reachable by car or local bus for the afternoon demonstration. A real eagle-hunting visit means driving out to a berkutshy in the Almaty region, sometimes as far as villages a couple of hours east, which is best set up through a local guide who knows the families. Both are usually run as half-day or full-day trips out of Almaty with a driver-guide.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (2)
Kazia Tour
GuideKazia Tour is an Almaty-based guiding operation that runs cultural and nature day trips in the Almaty region with English and Russian speaking guides and hotel pick-up. Its falcon and eagle programme pairs the Sunkar raptor centre's flight demonstration with the wider story of berkutshy eagle hunting, framed around the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status of falconry, and can be combined with the Ayusai valley. It books directly with travellers as private or small-group outings.
Sunkar Falcon Center
OutfitterThe Sunkar raptor centre was founded in 1989 in the Big Almaty gorge as a breeding and rehabilitation project for birds of prey, above all the saker falcon it is named for. It houses several hundred birds including golden eagles, peregrine and gyr falcons, black vultures and eagle owls, and reports breeding and releasing close to a thousand raptors into the wild. Its daily late-afternoon flight demonstration is the accessible way to see Kazakh falconry and eagle handling up close.