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Where I was born and raised is a place that lives and breathes horses. Every year thousands of foals are born on our rolling hills. I've been able to meet many types of horses but there was one that my childhood self never would have dreamed of being able to encounter: the Przewalski's Horse
Why is that? When I was young the status of these gorgeous creatures was extinct in the wild. It is very seldom that when you get to the point of no wild population that you are able to bring them back. I saw what was happening with species like Red Wolves and assumed that things would be similar. They were not!! Repopulation efforts started in the 90s with help from the Prague Zoo, the London Zoo, and many conservation programs. Thanks to their efforts, these lovely horses were declared no longer extinct in the wild in 2005. While still being listed as endangered the IUCN lists their population as increasing! While I have still never gotten to meet one in the wild, the opportunity gets better day by day.
Dangers for the Przewalski's:
These equines live on the steppes of Mongolia, a habitat that is being greatly threatened by farming. Both wolves and people use them for food but the threat of being pushed out by agriculture is more severe
Fun Facts about the Przewalski's:
-They are the last truly wild species of horse! Domestic horses do not descend from them but instead from a common ancestor
-They have 66 chromosomes while domestic horses have 64! This is strange because hybrids between the two are not sterile
-They are pronouced sheh-VAHL-skee, coincidentally similar to the French word for horse "cheval"
-They shed their manes and tails annually
-All living horses are descendants of just 14 that were collected at the start of the 20th century
Thank you for reading and getting this far!
