Przewalski’s horse
Tierpark Berlin is actively helping to reintroduce the Przewalski's wild horse to Kazakhstan.
Project facts
- Project partner
Prague Zoo, Committee for Forestry and Wildlife Kazakhstan, Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan and Frankfurt Zoological Society
- Project name
Return of the Wild Horses
- Species
Przewalski’s horse (Equus ferus przewalskii)
- IUCN threatened status
Endangered (EN)
- Project location
Altyn Dala, Kazakhstan
- Greatest threat
Previously, hunting by humans
- Response
Reintroduction and reintroduction of wild horses born in zoological gardens in Kazakhstan
Threat Categories of IUCN
True wild horses at Tierpark Berlin
Tierpark Berlin has been home to Przewalski’s horses since 1958 and has participated in coordinated breeding programmes since 1963. During this time, 100 foals have been born at the Tierpark, making a significant contribution to the survival of the rare horse. Przewalski’s are the only true wild horses alive today. They differ from feral members of the domestic horse subspecies Equus ferus caballus – such as the American mustang or German Dülmen pony – in that they have never been domesticated.
Wiped out in the wild
The Przewalski's horse used to inhabit the cold winter steppes of Asia from Kazakhstan to China. The Przewalski's horse has been considered extinct in its natural habitat since the late 1960s. The last sighting of a wild horse was in 1969 in Mongolia, in the Gobi B National Park.
Coordinated breeding led by zoos
Since 1959, all Przewalski's horses living in human care have been documented in an international studbook at Prague Zoo and breeding within Europe has been managed as part of a coordinated conservation breeding program since 1986. Thanks to this international cooperation, the species has survived not only in zoological gardens in Europe, but also in the USA and the states of the former Soviet Union.
From captivity into the wild
From 1985, animals that were born in zoological gardens were returned to their original home. First to China and since the early 1990s also to Mongolia. The first wild horses were released into the wild in both Hustai National Park and Gobi B and successfully reintroduced. Thanks to long-term management of the protected areas, scientific support and coordinated reintroduction of suitable individuals, the population is growing steadily. The success of this holistic approach is clearly noticeable - five populations are now living in the wild again in China and Mongolia, meaning that the endangered status of Przewalski's horses has been downgraded from "Extinct in the wild" to "Endangered" in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 2011.
Return Of The Wild Horses
The four horses were brought to the Alibi reintroduction center as part of the joint project "Return Of The Wild Horses" to form the first herd in the region together with three wild horses from Prague. The aim of the international joint project is to reintroduce at least 40 wild horses to the steppes of Kazakhstan over the next five years. The reintroduction of Przewalski's horses in Kazakhstan marks a significant milestone in the efforts to protect and restore the natural ecosystem of the Kazakh steppes. After a habituation period and the first winter, the gates of the reintroduction center will open for the herd and the wild horses will be released into the vastness of the steppe.
Photos: © AZKB // Tierpark Berlin
