Mongolia

When Denver photographer Seth Langbauer traveled to Mongolia’s eastern steppe in 2017, he was fascinated by the local hunting dogs known as taiga dogs. He first encountered the muscular canines, traditionally used by livestock herders, when he saw a demonstration at one of the region’s many horse festivals. “It’s basically a winterized greyhound,” says Langbauer 27.” They’re quite burly, but still lean and very fast.” Working as a team the dogs will chase down and kill foxes, rabbits, and even wolves. Over harvesting has long been a problem in the region, but Langbauer says that many of the families he met hunted to survive. The photographer spent more than two weeks traveling throughout the eastern steppe, braving minus-30-degree temperatures to capture the dogs in action.