Przewalski's Horse

Equus ferus przewalskii

Average (Polygynous)

The **Przewalski's Horse** (*Equus ferus przewalskii*) is a large Asian ungulate featured in the Conservation Pack DLC for *Planet Zoo*.

## Zoopedia Description

### General

**Population In Wild:** 1,900 reintroduced, semi-wild in national parks and reserves
Przewalski's horse (or *Equus ferus przewalskii*) is a species of wild horse living in the steppes of Mongolia, also known as the takhi, Mongolian wild horse and the Dzungarian horse. Przewalski's horse is smaller and has a stockier build than most other equid species. It measures 2.1m to 2.6m in length and stands between 250kg and 360kg. Males may be slightly larger than females, though there is no obvious sexual dimorphism in this species. The coat is orange-tan with a paler underside, and is accented by an erect black mane, thick black tail and black legs.

Once driven to extinction around the 1960s by habitat loss and overhunting, Przewalski's horse only survived in captivity. The species could be considered extinct in the wild, as all populations are carefully managed in national parks and nature reserves, and are descendants of captive breeding programs that have been reintroduced to the wild. However, Przewalski's horse has been re-categorized as an endangered species in 2011 as a result of these reintroduction efforts, and the population continues to be closely monitored to maximize reproduction and minimize inbreeding.

### Social

Przewalski's horses live in cohesive herds, which are composed of several harems. In a harem there is one mature stallion, several females and their young offspring. Young males that have not yet gained their own harem or old males who have lost their harem live in 'bachelor herds'.

### Reproduction

When a young female Przewalski's horse reaches sexual maturity, she is either 'won' by a stallion or voluntarily leaves her natal group to join a stallion's harem. She will stay with the harem of the first stallion she mates with. Stallions acquire several females over their life, growing their harems until no longer fit to defend them. Old stallions who lost their harem may join bachelor herds.

Mares are pregnant for 11 to 12 months, after which they give birth to a single foal. Foal mortality in wild Przewalski's horses is 25%, where 85% of those deaths are caused by unrelated stallions trying to bring the female back into oestrus. Mares are able to mate and conceive again 7 days after birth. Foals exclusively feed off their mother's milk for the first month of their life, and then begin eating solid food. Weaning takes place between 8 and 13 months of age, usually complete upon the birth of a new foal.

Przewalski's horses reach sexual maturity at 2 years old but females are unlikely to mate until 3 years old, and males will not actively try to form their own harem until 5 years old. Female foals remain with their natal harem until they are acquired by a different stallion, while male foals tend to leave their natal groups between 1 to 2 years old, when the bond with their mothers weaken. Young males will form bachelor herds, in which they will play fight and challenge, likely as practice for when they mature and need to earnestly fight for and defend their harem.

## Animal Care

 FEEDING STATIONS
 FOOD ENRICHMENT
Grazing Ball Feeder · Hanging Grazer Feeder · Large Barrel Feeder · Melon Feeder · Scarecrow Feeder
Grab Ball · Herb Scent Marker · Large Ball · Large Snow Ball · Musical Keyboard · Plant Screen · Rubbing Pillar · Scratching Tree · Sprinkler

## Trivia

### Zoopedia Facts

* The exact taxonomic status of Przewalski's horse is still debated, some arguing it is a subspecies of what became the domestic horse, while others classify it as a separate species of wild horse.
* Przewalski's horse has 33 chromosomal pairs, whereas modern domestic horses have 32, indicating they became genetically separate long ago.
* In 2020, the first cloned Przewalski's horse was born as part of an assisted breeding programme. The foal was created using a frozen cell from a stallion that died in 1998 and is hoped to add much needed genetic diversity back into the population.
* There are over 100 Przewalski's horses living in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Eastern Europe.
* Przewalski's horse is thought to be similar in appearance to what the wild ancestors of the domesticated horse could have looked like, with a dun coat and primitive markings on the back and the legs.