The Bankhar is an ancient livestock guardian dog breed. It is raised with sheep or goats and view th

The Bankhar is an ancient livestock guardian dog breed. It is raised with sheep or goats and view them as its family, living and sleeping with the herd to keep wolves and snow leopards away. They are sometimes referred to as “four eyed dogs,” because they have a pair of light colored spots above their eyes. There are folktales about them being able to see spirits.

Bankhar were nearly lost as a breed during Mongolia’s communist period, when the government tried to “settle” nomads and their flocks in fenced-in agricultural areas, and most of the dogs were killed. There was even a brief fashion for bankhar-fur coats in Moscow.

The breed is making a comeback thanks to the Mongolian Bankhar Dog Project, which used DNA testing to find remaining pureblood bankhars and is breeding them and giving puppies to herders to raise with their flocks.

Photos by Anne Bailey, you can see more of her photos or read about the Mongolian Bankhar Dog Project here: The Return of the Guard Dogs of the Steppes.