A hunter holds his hawk during an annual hunting competition in Chengelsy Gorge, some 150 km (93 miles) east of Almaty, December 5, 2009. When it snows on the steppes of eastern Kazakhstan, hunters saddle up and gallop off with eagles on their arms in search of prey. Many in Kazakhstan see eagle hunting as a symbol of their nation's nomadic past and a throwback to an oft-romanticised era before these steppes turned into a geopolitical battleground between competing regional powers Russia and China. Picture taken December 5. To match FEATURE KAZAKHSTAN-EAGLES/ REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov (KAZAKHSTAN ANIMALS SOCIETY IMAGES OF THE DAY)