Przewalski's Horse

**Przewalski's Horse** (*Equus przewalskii* or *E. caballus przewalskii*), pronounced "(p)she-VAHL-skeez horse", also known as the **Mongolian Wild Horse**, or **Takhi**, is the closest living relative of the Domestic Horse and may in fact be the same species. Authorities differ about the correct classification. The two are the only equids that can cross-breed and produce fertile offspring.

As of 2002, the world population of these horses is about 1,000, all descended from approximately 15 captured around 1900 and bred in zoos.

## History

The horse is named after Russian General Nikolai Przhevalsky (Przewalski) (1839–1888) who was also an explorer and naturalist (the "Przewalski" spelling is actually Polish). He described the horse in 1881, after having gone on an expedition to find it, based on rumours of its existence. Many horses were captured around 1900 and placed in zoos. Of these, about twelve to fifteen bred and formed today's population.

The population declined in the 20th century due to a combination of factors, and the wild population in Mongolia died out in the 1960s. The last herd was sighted in 1967 and the last individual horse in 1969. Expeditions after this failed to find any.

The unique characteristics of the horse itself made it particularly valuable to hunters. The horse would eat grass, and the chlorophyll would release from the chloroplasts inside their mouths, creating a thick green mucus stored in the back of their throats. Hunters would kill the horses for the mucus, as it was thought to cure a virus circulating at the time of the rapid declination of the species.

In 1977, the "Foundation for the Preservation and Protection of the Przewalski Horse" was founded, which started a program of exchange between the captive populations to reduce inbreeding, and later starting a breeding program of its own. In 1992, the Foundation released sixteen horses into the wild in Mongolia, followed by further batches later on. The reintroduced horses have been breeding successfully.

The area to which they were reintroduced became Hustai National Park in 1998.

There are reports of one or more herds introduced to Ukraine in the area evacuated after the Chernobyl accident, which now serves as a deserted de facto natural preserve.

Three of these horses now graze in a 49,000 m² paddock in the Clocaenog Forest in North Wales, UK, on the site of a former Neolithic or Iron Age settlement. They were introduced there in 2004. The Forestry Commission hopes they will help recreate scenes from the Iron Age when these horses roamed Britain freely.

## Appearance and behaviour

Przewalski's Horse is stockily built in comparison to domesticated horses, with shorter legs. Typical length is about 2.1 m with a 90 cm tail. They weigh around 350 kg. The coat varies from dark brown around the mane (which stands erect) to pale brown on the flanks and yellowish-white on the belly. The legs of the Przewalski's Horse are often faintly striped, suggesting an ancient common heritage with the zebra.

In the wild, Przewalski's Horses live in social groups consisting of a dominant male, several mares, and their offspring. Each group has a well-defined home range; within the range, the herd travels between three and six miles a day, spending time grazing, drinking, using salt licks, dozing, and taking mud baths. At night, the herd clusters and sleeps for about four hours.

Fillies leave their natal groups around age two, and look for a herd to join, after which they will begin to breed. Colts are driven out when they are about three years old, and spend a year or two in small bachelor herds, practicing fighting. At around age 5, a stallion will try to pass on his genes by attempting to take over an existing herd, stealing one or more mares from another stallion's harem, or gathering unattached fillies.