- Przewalski's Horse -

   The Przewalski's Horse is the only surviving subspecies of horse that has never been domesticated. They became known to the world when a Polish naturalist named Przewalski discovered a wild herd of these animals. They once inhabited the vast grasslands of central Asia, but beginning in the early 1900s, hunting pressure, competition for grazing land and water, and interbreeding with domestic Mongol ponies contributed greatly to their increasing scarcity.

Although they have been under strict legal protection in Mongolia since 1926, the species became extinct in the wild in the 1960s. In 1992, a successful breeding program that relied on captive animals was started, and since they they have been reintroduced into several Mongolian national parks. In 2005, the wild populations were estimated to have around 300 horses.

They have a stocky body, low-set shoulders that blend well into the back, giving the horse a rather primitive look. They have a yellowish brown coat with paler undersides, pale sandy-colored muzzles, black tails and lower legs. They exhibit a thick, wooly coat in the winter. Their manes have no forelock, but is made up of short, stiff black hairs that stand upright. They stand about twelve hands high at the withers.

For many years this horse was hunted by the Chinese and Mongolians as a food source, and the decline of the species was increased quickly when firearms reached the hands of these hunters. Because of its wild, shy nature, the Przewalski's horse has never really been tamed by man, and has only been semi-domesticated. When still in the wild, it had been allowed to breed with feral horses. This horse breed has been saved from certain total extinction through captive breeding in zoos, such as Marwell Zoo, near Winchester in New Hampshire. A studbook listing the horses and their ancestors helps zoos exchange animals to prevent inbreeding. There are now more than 600 horses in captivity and a breeding program that allows some of them to be reintroduced to the wild in nature reserves.

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