Foreign Correspondent: May 2

On Tuesday Foreign Correspondent takes a spectacular journey into the wilds of Mongolia in search of an ancient, imperilled tradition – the Kazakh golden eagle hunters.

A stunning collection of images and a preview link are available to media on request.

When a 13-year-old girl called Aisholpan shot to fame in the documentary The Eagle Huntress, her raw Mongolian homeland entranced audiences as well.

Its desolate, otherworldly steppes, valleys and snowy peaks provide the dramatic backdrop for Kazakh tribespeople who cling proudly to their practice of hunting with tamed golden eagles.

As correspondent Matthew Carney soon discovers, it’s a universe away from Hollywood.

In a quest to meet the surviving eagle hunters, Carney and cameraman Steve Wang take an old Russian jeep forging through mostly roadless terrain in one of the most inhospitable parts of the planet, where the mercury can plunge as low as minus 40.

Winter is the time to hunt – and the Foreign Correspondent team encounters veteran hunter Beken, his son and their golden eagles. After hours of searching, they spot a fox. Then, as the camera rolls, they unleash their powerful birds.

When I see the eagle fly, I feel free. When she catches a fox I feel great… it’s like magic! – Beken’s son Bakhbergen
The men are custodians of a thousand-year Kazakh tradition that’s threatened on several fronts – climate change, the introduction of guns for hunting and the allure of distant cities.

If my son says ‘I’m going to school far away and I’m not going to become an eagle hunter,’ I cannot tell him otherwise – Beken
Oddly enough, what might help sustain the old tradition is a breath of modern feminism. The Eagle Huntress makes some men bristle – but the exploits of its heroine Aisholpan are inspiring young girls.

Of course girls can do anything boys can do. We are resilient – Akbota, a 14-year-old who trains to be an eagle hunter
Orken, Akbota’s eagle hunter dad, is backing her all the way.

My daughter is very brave. I want to encourage girls like Akbota and Aisholpan – Orken
Older hunters worry that the practice is dying. But as Matthew Carney reports, there is a youthful optimism among the kids who are learning it.

This is a Kazakh national treasure and I want to do my part to keep it alive – Akbota

9.30pm on Tuesday May 2 on ABC.