The most exotic sort of wolf hunting involves the use of eagles. It has been seen only occasionally in Europe; its real home is Kirghizia, in south-central Russia. The specially bred birds - a subspecies of golden eagles called a berkut - are flown by nomadic tribesmen. The birds only weigh ten or twelve pounds but can slam into a wolf's back and bind its nose with such force that the wolf is almost paralyzed. Often the bird binds the spine with one foot and, as the wolf turns its head to bite, binds its nose with the other foot, suffocating the animal or holding it down until the hunter kills it. The birds are deceptively strong; there is almost a ton of binding force in each foot and the blow of the thirty-six-inch wing can break a man's arm...Kirghizian tribesmen still hunt wolves in Russia with eagles, on horseback, with the aid of dogs.
Barry Holstun Lopez
Of Wolves and Men