PASSAGE 1: Back to wild

The Przewalski Horse is the last wild horse. The horse is named after the Russian colonel Nikolai Przewalski (the name is of Polish origin and “Przewalski” is the Polish spelling). He was the explorer and naturalist who first described the horse in 1881, after having gone on an expedition to find it, based on rumors of its existence. Many of these horses were captured around 1900 by Carl Hagenbeck and placed in zoos. Many of these horses were captured, reproduced and formed today’s population. As noted above, about twelve to fifteen formed today’s population.

The World Wildlife Fund is supporting the Przewalski Horse project. Przewalski’s horses, named after the Russian explorer who first described them scientifically, were once native to China and travelled freely across the wilds of the Eurasian steppe covering Russia, Mongolia, and Eurasia. But they were driven to the brink of extinction after Przewalski’s 19th-century discovery of the species led to an increase in their appeal. Many were killed or captured and taken to zoos across the world, while others were displaced by human land use. Of the 2,000 Przewalski’s horses left in the world today, only 300 live in the wild, having been part of reintroduction programmes first.

Colonel Nikolay Przewalski identified different kinds of horses by using the bones and skins of the horse. They are very difficult to catch and there are only a few that exist in the zoo.

A scientist named Feh first put the horse in a zoo, and then sent them back to the wild. The Causse Méjean landscape in France is quite similar to that in Mongolia where the horse used to live. He spent 6000 hours doing the experiment, to change the nature of the Przewalski horse to attack and fight other horse species. Then Feh took the horse to Mongolia to roam in an area of 13,000 hectares of grassland where the horse once lived. Feh’s project is also known as “Wild Horse Mesh”.