Przewalski's Horse (Equus ferus przewalskii or Equus caballus przewalskii, classification is debated), pronounced in English as /ʃe'væl.skiː/, also known as the Asian Wild Horse or Mongolian Wild Horse, or Takhi, is the closest living wild relative of the domestic Horse.

Most "wild" horses today, such as the American Mustang, are actually feral animals, horses that were once domesticated but escaped and reverted to an apparently wild status. The Przewalski's Horse, on the other hand, has never been successfully domesticated and remains a truly wild animal today. There were once several types of Equid that had never been successfully domesticated, including the Tarpan, Onager, and others. However, most have become extinct, with the Przewalski's Horse the only remaining truly wild horse in the world.

After 1945 only two captive populations in zoos remained: in Munich and in Prague Zoo. The most valuable group in Askania Nova was shot down by German soldiers during occupation and the group in the USA had died.

In 1977, the Foundation for the Preservation and Protection of the Przewalski Horse was founded by Jan and Inge Bouman, which started a program of exchange between captive populations in zoos throughout the world to reduce inbreeding, and later starting a breeding program of its own. In 1992, sixteen horses were released into the wild in Mongolia, followed by additional animals later on. These reintroduced horses successfully reproduced, and the status of the animal was changed from "extinct in the wild" to "endangered" in 2005.[1]

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

Other Reserves for the Przewalski's Horse

The world's largest captive breeding program for Przewalski's horses is at the Askania Nova preserve in Ukraine. Several dozen Przewalski's horses were also released in the area evacuated after the Chernobyl accident, which now serves as a deserted de facto natural preserve. Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl devotes an entire chapter to the Przewalski's horses of Chernobyl. A intensely researched population of free-ranging animals was introduced to the Hortobágy puszta in Hungary; data on social structure, behavior, diseases etc gathered from these animals is used to improve the Mongolian conservation effort.

A small population of Przewalski's horses exists in Monarto Zoological Park in Murray Bridge, South Australia.


Three of these horses now graze in a 12 acre (5 hectare) 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 height is about 13 hands (1.32 m), length is about 2.1 m with a 90 cm tail. They weigh around 350 kg. The coat is similar to Dun coloration in domestic horses. It 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. 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. Ranges of different herds may overlap without conflict, as the stallions are more protective of their harem than their territory. The stallions practice a form of scent marking and will establish piles of dung at intervals along routes they normally travel to warn other males of their presence. In addition, when a female in the herd urinates, the stallion will frequently urinate in the same place, to signal her membership in his harem to other males. The stallions can frequently be seen sniffing dung piles to confirm scent markings.Fillies and colts both leave their natal groups as they reach sexual maturity, usually driven out by the dominant stallion. Fillies generally look for a new herd to join, after which they will begin to reproduce. Colts usually find one another and spend a year or two in small bachelor herds. At around age 5, a stallion will leave the bachelor herd and attempt to take over an existing herd by challenging the dominant stallion, or by "stealing" one or more mares from another stallion's harem, or by gathering unattached fillies.