KAKANJ, Bosnia (AP) — Like most ladies her age, Bosnian teenager Mirnesa Junuzovic splits her days into free time and time reserved for varsity and home chores. How she spends the previous, nonetheless, makes her fairly distinctive.
The 15-year-old Junuzovic takes every day, hourslong walks together with her bull, Cobra, and trains the beast for conventional bullfights which were organized within the nation for greater than two centuries.
“We walk for three or more hours every day, I talk to him and call him by different nicknames that I have for him,” Junuzovic mentioned, including: “I can always anticipate when he is going to rush or scrape at the ground.”
Junuzovic believes that she and Cobra share a particular bond and insists that whereas they prepare and stroll via the fields and forest round her rural dwelling on the outskirts of Kakanj, the bull generally makes use of its horns to maneuver tree branches and shrubs out of her approach.
When any individual else approaches him, Junuzovic insisted, “his whole demeanor changes” and he begins snorting.
“But he never acts like that with me,” she rushed to say. “He is aware of that I handle him. He is rather like a human, besides that he can not discuss.”
Bullfights in Bosnia are comparatively mellow and cold affairs resembling a pure conflict for dominance between male bulls within the wild. Virtually each weekend in the course of the summer time months, rodeo-like corrals are arrange in forest clearings or meadows across the nation.
1000’s of individuals collect round these enclosures in village fair-like settings to look at bull-on-bull fights by which animals push one another and conflict horns till one among them admits defeat by turning their tail and fleeing. The conflict usually lasts just some minutes.
Earlier than bulls enter the world, inspectors examine their horns and even reduce off the information if they’re too sharp. In addition they examine the animals’ anti-doping take a look at outcomes and ensure the bulls conflict heads provided that they need to.
Among the many village people in Bosnia, the love of bulls and bullfighting is put in in youngsters at an early age. Attending the fights is commonly embraced as a household exercise.
“This is a part of our tradition. We love it,” defined Muriz Spahic, who drove for greater than 70 kilometers (round 45 miles) to look at bulls combating final Sunday outdoors the village of Bijelo Polje in central Bosnia.
“My grandpa loves it, he is here with us today, I love it, my child loves it,” he said, “We go to the fights together.”
In between the fights, the spectators hearth up grills, roast meat, drink and dance to blaring people music.
Combating bulls of Bosnia have historically been educated by males, however ladies began becoming a member of the fray a number of years in the past. Nonetheless, ladies on this area are uncommon and Junuzovic, who began coaching bulls on the age of 12, stays the youngest of the trainers.
A few of her college mates look down at her pastime and demand that it’s “stinky,” she mentioned. However those that she actually cares about are “very supportive. They call to congratulate me every time we win.”
Bulls battle in numerous weight lessons and Cobra, who weighs 620 kilograms (greater than 1,360 kilos), is among the many “lightweights.”
Cobra’s successful streak, which started eight fights in the past, continued in Bijelo Polje, the place he scored his ninth victory of the 2025 bullfighting season.
The opposite bull “quit,” as a result of he “was unprepared,” Junuzovic mentioned.
Round half of the scheduled battles total finish with one of many animals leaving the ring with out even attempting.
“Still, we won and every victory counts,” she mentioned with an enormous smile.
