These endangered Przewalski’s horses are part of an effort to return the species to the Central Asian plains where it once roamed.
For the first time in at least 200 years, Przewalski’s wild horses have returned to Kazakhstan’s Golden Steppe.
Son the last truly wild horses that remain on Earth, whose habitat was wiped out by agriculture and other human activities.
Now him Prague zoohas returned them to their original home on the plains of Central Asia.
What happened to the Przewalski horses of Central Asia?
In early June, a CASA aircraft of the Czech army landed in the center of Kazakhstan with four of these endangered animals on board. Tessa, Wespe, Umbra and Sary needed 18 hour flight from Berlin y seven hours of truck travel to get to your new home.
An earlier flight brought a stallion, Zorro, and two mares, Zeta II and Ypsilonka, bringing the total number of animals to seven.
In ‘Altyn Dala’, the Kazakh name for the Golden Steppe, two large meadows of 80 hectares have been installed. Here the horses will acclimatize to their new environment under the careful supervision of researchers for a year.
Before being released, They must demonstrate that they are resistant to frost and parasites and that they can find food under the heavy snow that falls in the Golden Steppe in winter.
What are Przewalski horses?
The horses of PrzewalskiThey are considered the last truly wild horses left on the planet, since other species, such as the American Mustang, descend from domesticated animals. This species was once common in the vast steppes of Central Asia.
When they were discovered by the Russian geographer Nikolai Przewalski in 1879, Their habitat had been reduced to a small area in western Mongolia. Competition from livestock, human activity, and changes in their environment had virtually exterminated them.
After World War II, their numbers were so low that it became clear that they could become extinct in the wild.
In 1959 a conference was held to look for ways to save the species. Prague Zoo entrusted with “international breeding” of these animals. By the late 1960s, they had completely disappeared from the wild, but their numbers were beginning to increase under human guardianship.
Los descendants of these Przewalski horses They are the ones that are now being reintroduced into the wild in Kazakhstan.
The first Przewalskis in central Kazakhstan in hundreds of years
Prague Zoo has been working to reintroduce the species to Central Asia for 15 years.
“It’s about a event of historical importance: the Przewalski seven that we have transported here on two CASA planes represent the first specimens of this species in central Kazakhstan in hundreds of years“Prague Zoo director Miroslav Bobek said in a statement.
“With this double transport, we have taken an important step to return the last wild horse to another area where it was found in the past.”
Bobek added that the ultimate goal was to slowly transport at least 40 horses to this area to create a viable population. He is preparing another transport to Kazakhstan for next spring.
The zoo too will send some Przewalski to Mongolia in 2026where a reintroduction program has made its population far exceed 850 animals.
