Przewalski's horse

{{Subspeciesbox

| image = Przewalskis horse 02.jpg

| image_caption =

| status = EN

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref =

| status2 = CITES_A1

| status2_system = CITES

| status2_ref = {{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org|archive-date=3 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203100154/http://www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.shtml|url-status=live}}

| genus = Equus

| species = ferus

| species_link = Wild horse

| subspecies = przewalskii

| authority = (I. S. Polyakov, 1881)

| range_map = {{maplink|frame=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=200|plain=yes|from=Przewalski's horse range.map}}

| range_map_caption = Przewalski's horse range
(IUCN distribution of Przewalski's horse, where it is extant & reintroduced to 5 disjointed areas in Northern China and Southern Mongolia; missing distribution in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine)

| synonyms = * Species Level:

Equus przewalskii Polyakov, 1881
Subspecies Level:
E. f. hagenbecki Matschie, 1903
E. f. prjevalskii Ewart, 1903
E. f. typicus Max Hilzheimer, 1909

}}

Przewalski's horse{{efn|British English: {{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|ɜːr|ʒ|ə|ˈ|v|æ|l|s|k|i}} {{respell|PUR|zhə|VAL|skee}},{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Przewalski%27s+horse |title=Przewalski's horse |dictionary=Lexico UK English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press}}{{dead link|date=September 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} American English: {{IPAc-en|-|ˈ|v|ɑː|l|-}} {{respell|-|VAHL|-}},{{Cite Merriam-Webster |Przewalski's horse |access-date=2023-04-29 }} {{IPA|pl|pʂɛˈvalskʲi|lang|small=no|link=yes}}, {{IPA|ru|prʐɨˈvalʲskʲɪj|lang|small=no|link=yes}} ({{lang|ru|Пржевальский}}).}} (Equus ferus przewalskii or Equus przewalskii), also called the takhi,{{efn|{{langx|mn|Тахь}}.}}{{cite web|url=http://www.takhi.org/en/|title=Takhi: Holy Animal of Mongolia|publisher=International Takhi Group|access-date=13 August 2016|archive-date=5 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805010851/http://www.takhi.org/en/|url-status=live}} Mongolian wild horse or Dzungarian horse, is a rare and endangered wild horse originally native to the steppes of Central Asia. It is named after the Russian geographer and explorer Nikolay Przhevalsky. Once extinct in the wild, since the 1990s it has been reintroduced to its native habitat in Mongolia in the Khustain Nuruu National Park, Takhin Tal Nature Reserve, and Khomiin Tal, as well as several other locales in Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

Several genetic characteristics of Przewalski's horse differ from what is seen in modern domestic horses, indicating neither is an ancestor of the other. For example, Przewalski's horse has 33 chromosome pairs, compared to 32 for the domestic horse. Their ancestral lineages split from a common ancestor between 160,000 and 38,000 years ago, long before the domestication of the horse. Przewalski's horse was long considered the only remaining truly wild horse, in contrast with the American mustang and the Australian brumby, which are instead feral horses descended from domesticated animals. That status was called into question when domestic horses of the 5,000-year-old Botai culture of Central Asia were found to be more closely related to Przewalski's horses than to E. f. caballus. The study raised the possibility that modern Przewalski's horses could be the feral descendants of the domestic Botai horses. However, it remains possible that both the Botai horses and the modern Przewalski's horses descend separately from the same ancient wild Przewalski's horse population. Its taxonomic position is still debated, with some taxonomists treating Przewalski's horse as a species, E. przewalskii, others as a subspecies of wild horse (E. ferus przewalskii) or a variety of the domesticated horse (E. caballus).

Przewalski's horse is stockily built, smaller, and shorter than its domesticated relatives. Typical height is about {{hands|12|-|14}}, and the average weight is around {{convert|300|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. They have a dun coat with pangaré features and often have dark primitive markings.

Taxonomy

Przewalski's horse was formally described as a novel species in 1881 by Ivan Semyonovich Polyakov. The taxonomic position of Przewalski's horse remains controversial, and no consensus exists about whether it is a full species (as Equus przewalskii); a subspecies of Equus ferus the wild horse (as Equus ferus przewalskii in trinomial nomenclature, along with two other subspecies, the domestic horse E. f. caballus, and the extinct tarpan E. f. ferus); or even a subpopulation of the domestic horse. The American Society of Mammalogists considers Przewalski's horse and the tarpan both to be subspecies of Equus ferus, and classifies the domestic horse as a separate species, Equus caballus.{{Cite web|title=Explore the Database|url=https://www.mammaldiversity.org/explore.html#species-id=1006123|access-date=2021-08-20|website=www.mammaldiversity.org|archive-date=28 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028140029/https://www.mammaldiversity.org/explore.html#species-id=1006123|url-status=live}}

Lineage

Genetic analysis shows that the takhi and the domestic horse differ significantly, with neither ancestral to the other. The evolutionary divergence of the two populations was estimated to have occurred about 72,000–38,000 years ago, well before domestication, most likely due to climate, topography, or other environmental changes.{{cite journal |last1=Orlando |first1=L. |last2=Ginolhac |first2=A.L. |last3=Zhang |first3=G. |last4=Froese |first4=D. |last5=Albrechtsen |first5=A. |last6=Stiller |first6=M. |last7=Schubert |first7=M. |last8=Cappellini |first8=E. |last9=Petersen |first9=B. |last10=Moltke |first10=I. |last11=Johnson |first11=P.L.F. |last12=Fumagalli |first12=M. |last13=Vilstrup |first13=J.T. |last14=Raghavan |first14=M. |last15=Korneliussen |first15=T. |last16=Malaspinas |first16=A.S. |last17=Vogt |first17=J. |last18=Szklarczyk |first18=D. |last19=Kelstrup |first19=C.D. |last20=Vinther |first20=J. |last21=Dolocan |first21=A. |last22=Stenderup |first22=J. |last23=Velazquez |first23=A.M.V. |last24=Cahill |first24=J. |last25=Rasmussen |first25=M. |last26=Wang |first26=X. |last27=Min |first27=J. |last28=Zazula |first28=G.D. |last29=Seguin-Orlando |first29=A. |last30=Mortensen |first30=C. |display-authors=6 |year=2013 |title=Recalibrating Equus evolution using the genome sequence of an early Middle Pleistocene horse |doi=10.1038/nature12323 |journal=Nature |volume=499 |issue=7456 |pages=74–78 |pmid=23803765 |bibcode=2013Natur.499...74O |s2cid=4318227}}{{cite journal |last1=Sarkissian |first1=C. |last2=Ermini |first2=L. |last3=Schubert |first3=M. |last4=Yang |first4=M.A. |last5=Librado |first5=P. |display-authors=etal |year=2015 |title=Evolutionary genomics and conservation of the endangered Przewalski's horse |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2015.08.032 |pmid=26412128 |journal=Curr. Biol. |volume=25 |issue=19 |pages=2577–83 |pmc=5104162|bibcode=2015CBio...25.2577D }}{{cite journal |doi=10.1146/annurev-animal-022516-022747 |title=Taming the past: Ancient DNA and the study of animal domestication |journal=Annual Review of Animal Biosciences |volume=5 |year=2016 |last1=Machugh |first1=David E. |last2=Larson |first2=Greger |last3=Orlando |first3=Ludovic |pmid=27813680 |pages=329–351|s2cid=21991146 }}

According to a 2009 study, the earliest known domestic horses were found at settlements of the Botai culture, from about 5500 years ago. These horses were raised for meat and milk.{{cite journal |last1=Outram |first1=A.K. |last2=Stear |first2=N.A. |last3=Bendrey |first3=R. |last4=Olsen |first4=S. |last5=Kasparov |first5= A. |display-authors=etal |year=2009 |title=The earliest horse harnessing and milking |journal=Science |volume=323 |issue=5919 |pages=1332–1335 |doi=10.1126/science.1168594 |pmid=19265018|bibcode=2009Sci...323.1332O |s2cid=5126719 }} In 2018, a new study indicated ancient horses of the Botai culture are related to takhis, not to domestic horses as was previously thought. Specifically, the Botai horses appeared to be ancestral to the modern takhi, because all seven takhis nested within the phylogenetic tree of the 20 Botai horses. No comparison was made to definitively wild early takhis. The authors posit that modern Przewalski's horses are feral descendants of the ancient Botai domesticated animals, rather than representing a surviving population of never-domesticated horses.{{cite web |author=Pennisi, Elizabeth |author-link=Elizabeth Pennisi |title=Ancient DNA upends the horse family tree |website=sciencemag.org |date=22 February 2018 |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/ancient-dna-upends-horse-family-tree |access-date=30 June 2022 |archive-date=21 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921222121/https://www.science.org/content/article/ancient-dna-upends-horse-family-tree |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last1=Orlando |first1=Ludovic |last2=Outram |first2=Alan K. |last3=Librado| first3=Pablo |last4=Willerslev |first4=Eske |last5=Zaibert |first5=Viktor |last6=Merz |first6=Ilja |last7=Merz |first7=Victor |last8=Wallner |first8=Barbara |last9=Ludwig |first9=Arne |date=2018-04-06 |df=dmy-all |title=Ancient genomes revisit the ancestry of domestic and Przewalski's horses |journal=Science |language=en |volume=360 |issue=6384 |pages=111–114 |doi=10.1126/science.aao3297 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=29472442|bibcode=2018Sci...360..111G |doi-access=free|hdl=10871/31710 |hdl-access=free }} Another geneticist pointed out that Przewalski's horses may have simply descended from the same wild population that the Botai horses came from, which would still be compatible with the findings of the study.{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/02/ancient-dna-rules-out-archeologists-best-bet-for-horse-domestication/|date=February 25, 2018|title=Ancient DNA rules out archeologists' best bet for horse domestication|publisher=ArsTechnica|access-date=24 June 2020|archive-date=25 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625064751/https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/02/ancient-dna-rules-out-archeologists-best-bet-for-horse-domestication/|url-status=live}}

In 2021, William Taylor and Christina Barron-Ortiz disputed the evidence for domestication of Przewalski's horse.{{cite journal|last1=Taylor |first1=William Timothy Treal |last2=Barrón‑Ortiz |first2=Christina Isabelle |title=Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=11 |year=2021 |issue=1 |page=7440 |doi=10.1038/s41598-021-86832-9|pmid=33811228 |pmc=8018961 |bibcode=2021NatSR..11.7440T }} Their case was rejected by Alan Outram and colleagues in a paper which was not dated or peer-reviewed.{{cite web|url=https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10871/126599/Outram%20et%20al%20Rebuttal%20of%20Taylor.pdf?sequence=1|title=Rebuttal of Taylor and Barrón-Ortiz 2021 Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai|access-date=26 April 2024|archive-date=5 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505123450/https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10871/126599/Outram%20et%20al%20Rebuttal%20of%20Taylor.pdf?sequence=1|url-status=live}} Taylor reiterated his arguments that Przewalski's horse had never been domesticated in an article in Scientific American in 2024.{{cite journal| last=Taylor |first=William T. | journal=Scientific American |title=When Horse became Steed|volume=331 |number=5 |date=December 2024 |pages=24–30 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican122024-7qfHkaSxwWOJpTcwY2J0bg |bibcode=2024SciAm.331e..22T |issn= }}

In any case, the Botai horses were found to have negligible genetic contribution to any of the ancient or modern domestic horses studied, indicating that the domestication of the latter was independent, involving a different wild population, from any possible domestication of Przewalski's horse by the Botai culture.

Characteristics

File:Portrait of Przewalski's Horse.jpg

Przewalski's horse is stockily built in comparison to domesticated horses, with shorter legs, and is much smaller and shorter than its domesticated relatives. Typical height is about {{hands|12|-|14}}, and length is about {{convert|2.1|m|abbr=on}}. It weighs around {{convert|300|kg|lb}}. The coat is generally dun in color with pangaré features, varying from dark brown around the mane, to pale brown on the flanks, and yellowish-white on the belly, as well as around the muzzle. The legs of Przewalski's horse are often faintly striped, also typical of primitive markings.{{cite web |url=https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/przewalskis-horse |title=Przewalski's horse |website=Smithsonian's National Zoo |date=25 April 2016 |access-date=2019-04-26 |df=dmy-all}} The mane stands erect and does not extend as far forward, while the tail is about {{convert|90|cm|0|abbr=on}} long, with a longer dock and shorter hair than seen in domesticated horses. The hooves of Przewalski's horse are longer in the front and have significantly thicker sole horns than feral horses, an adaptation that improves hoof performance on terrain.Patan-Zugaj, B., Hermann, C., & Budras, K.-D. (2013). History of the Przewalski horse (Equus Przewalskii) and morphological examination of seasonal changes of the hoof in Przewalski and feral horses. Retrieved from http://www.pferdeheilkunde.de/10.21836/PEM20130302.

=Genomics=

The karyotype of Przewalski's horse differs from that of the domestic horse, having 33 chromosome pairs versus 32, apparently due to a fission of a large chromosome ancestral to domestic horse chromosome 5 to produce Przewalski's horse chromosomes 23 and 24,{{cite journal |last1=Piras |first1=F.M. |last2=Nergadze |first2=S.G. |last3=Poletto |first3=V. |last4=Cerutti |first4=F. |last5=Ryder |first5=O.A. |last6=Leeb |first6=T. |last7=Raimondi |first7=E. |last8=Giulotto |first8=E. |title=Phylogeny of Horse Chromosome 5q in the Genus Equus and Centromere Repositioning |journal=Cytogenetic and Genome Research |year=2009 |volume=126 |issue=1–2 |pages=165–172 |doi=10.1159/000245916 |pmid=20016166 |s2cid=24884868 |url=https://boris.unibe.ch/38295/ |archive-date=29 October 2023 |access-date=17 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029195550/https://boris.unibe.ch/38295/ |url-status=live }} though conversely, a Robertsonian translocation that fused two chromosomes ancestral to those seen in Przewalski's horse to produce the single large domestic horse chromosome has also been proposed.{{cite journal |last1=Huang |first1=Jinlong |last2=Zhao |first2=Yiping |last3=Shiraigol |first3=Wunierfu |last4=Li |first4=Bei |last5=Bai |first5=Dongyi |last6=Ye |first6=Weixing |last7=Daidiikhuu |first7=Dorjsuren |last8=Yang |first8=Lihua |last9=Jin |first9=Burenqiqige |last10=Zhao |first10=Qinan |last11=Gao |first11=Yahan |last12=Wu |first12=Jing |last13=Bao |first13=Wuyundalai |last14=Li |first14 = Anaer |last15=Zhang |first15=Yuhong |last16=Han |first16=Haige |last17=Bai |first17=Haitang |last18=Bao |first18=Yanqing |last19=Zhao |first19=Lele |last20=Zhai |first20=Zhengxiao |last21=Zhao |first21=Wenjing |last22=Sun |first22=Zikui |last23=Zhang |first23=Yan |last24=Meng |first24=He |last25=Dugarjaviin |first25=Manglai |display-authors=6 |year=2015 |title=Analysis of horse genomes provides insight into the diversification and adaptive evolution of karyotype |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=4 |page=4958 |pmid=24828444 |pmc=4021364 |doi=10.1038/srep04958 |url=}}

Many smaller inversions, insertions and other rearrangements were observed between the chromosomes of domestic and Przewalski's horses, while there was much lower heterozygosity in Przewalski's horses, with extensive segments devoid of genetic diversity, a consequence of the recent severe bottleneck of the captive Przewalski's horse population. In comparison, the chromosomal differences between domestic horses and zebras include numerous large-scale translocations, fusions, inversions, and centromere repositioning. Przewalski's horse has the highest diploid chromosome number among all equine species. They can interbreed with the domestic horse and produce fertile offspring, with 65 chromosomes.

The mitochondrial genome has 37 genes that are 99.63% identical to that of the domestic horse.{{cite journal |last1=Flack |first1=Nicole |last2=Hughes |first2=Lauren |last3=Cassens |first3=Jacob |last4=Enriquez |first4=Maya |last5=Gebeyehu |first5=Samrawit |last6=Alshagawi |first6=Mohammed |last7=Hatfield |first7=Jason |last8=Kauffman |first8=Anna |last9=Brown |first9=Baylor |last10=Klaeui |first10=Caitlin |last11=Mabrouk |first11=Islam F |last12=Walls |first12=Carrie |last13=Yeater |first13=Taylor |last14=Rivas |first14=Anne |last15=Faulk |first15=Christopher |title=The genome of Przewalski's horse ( Equus ferus przewalskii ) |journal=G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics |date=28 May 2024 |volume=14 |issue=8 |pages=jkae113 |doi=10.1093/g3journal/jkae113|doi-access=free |pmid=38805182 |pmc=11304947 }}

Ecology and behavior

File:Wintercoat.jpg

Przewalski reported the horses forming troops of between five and fifteen members, consisting of a mature stallion, his mares and foals. Modern reintroduced populations similarly form family groups of one adult stallion, one to three mares, and their common offspring that stay in the family group until they are no longer dependent, usually at two or three years old. Young females join other harems, while bachelor stallions as well as old stallions who have lost their harems join bachelor groups.{{cite journal |first1=Viola |last1=Kerekes |first2=István |last2=Sándor |first3=Dorina |last3=Nagy |first4=Katalin |last4=Ozogány |first5=Loránd |last5=Göczi |first6=Benjamin |last6=Ibler |first7=Lajos |last7=Széles |first8=Zoltán |last8=Barta |title=Trends in demography, genetics, and social structure of Przewalski's horses in the Hortobagy National Park, Hungary over the last 22 years |journal=Global Ecology and Conservation |year=2021 |volume=25 |page=e01307 | doi=10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01407|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021GEcoC..2501407K }} Family groups can join to form a herd that moves together.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

The patterns of their daily lives exhibit horse behavior similar to that of feral horse herds. Stallions herd, drive, and defend all members of their family, while the mares often display leadership in the family. Stallions and mares stay with their preferred partners for years. While behavioral synchronization is high among mares, stallions other than the main harem stallion are generally less stable in this respect.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Home range in the wild is little studied, but estimated as {{Cvt|1.2–24|km2|sqmi|sigfig=2}} in the Hustai National Park and {{Cvt|150-825|km2|sqmi}} in the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area.{{cite web |title=Przewalski's Horse (Equus ferus) Fact Sheet: Behavior & Ecology |url=http://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/przewalskishorse/behavior |publisher=San Diego Zoo Global Library |via=IELC |access-date=29 April 2019 |archive-date=2 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802000437/http://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/przewalskishorse/behavior |url-status=live }} The ranges of harems are separated, but slightly overlapping. They have few modern predators, but one of the few is the Himalayan wolf.{{cite journal |last1=Balajeid Lyngdoh |first1=S. |last2=Habib |first2=B. |last3=Shrotriya |first3=S. |title=Dietary spectrum in Himalayan wolves: comparative analysis of prey choice in conspecifics across high-elevation rangelands of Asia |journal=Journal of Zoology |date=January 2020 |volume=310 |issue=1 |pages=24–33 |doi=10.1111/jzo.12724 |s2cid=202010931 |url=https://cdn.downtoearth.org.in/library/0.69048700_1565775720_dietary-spectrum-in-himalayan-wolves.pdf |access-date=1 March 2023 |archive-date=24 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024183034/https://cdn.downtoearth.org.in/library/0.69048700_1565775720_dietary-spectrum-in-himalayan-wolves.pdf |url-status=live }}

Horses maintain visual contact with their family and herd at all times, and have a host of ways to communicate with one another, including vocalizations, scent marking, and a wide range of visual and tactile signals. Each kick, groom, tilt of the ear, or other contact with another horse is a means of communicating. This constant communication leads to complex social behaviors among Przewalski's horses.{{cite book |author=Feh, C. |year=2005 |article=Relationships and communication in socially natural horse herds |title=The Domestic Horse: the evolution, development and management of its behaviour |editor1=Mills, Daniel |editor2=McDonnell, Sue |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}

The historical population was said to have lived in the "wildest parts of the desert" with a preference for "especially saline districts". They were observed mostly during spring and summer at natural wells, migrating to them by crossing valleys rather than by way of higher mountains.

=Diet=

File:Equus przewalskii Le Villaret 02 2006-07-20.jpg

Przewalski horse's diet consists of vegetation. Many plant species are in a typical Przewalski's horse environment, including: Elymus repens, Carex spp., Fabaceae, and Asteraceae.{{cite journal |url=http://www.pol.j.ecol.cbe-pan.pl/article/ar59_4_19.pdf |title=Diet of the Przewalski's horse Equus przewalskii in the Chernobyl exclusion zone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185432/http://www.pol.j.ecol.cbe-pan.pl/article/ar59_4_19.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2013 |author1=Kateryna Slivinska |author2=Grzegorz Kopij |journal=Polish Journal of Ecology |volume=59 |issue=4 |pages=841–847 |date=July 2011 |df=dmy-all}}

Looking at the species' diet overall, Przewalski's horses most often eat E. repens, Trifolium pratense, Vicia cracca, Poa trivialis, Dactylis glomerata, and Bromus inermis.

While the horses eat a variety of different plant species, they tend to favor different species at different times of year. In the springtime, they favor Elymus repens, Corynephorus canescens, Festuca valesiaca, and Chenopodium album. In early summer, they favor Dactylis glomerata and Trifolium, and in late summer, they gravitate towards E. repens and Vicia cracca.

In winter the horses eat Salix spp., Pyrus communis, Malus sylvatica, Pinus sylvestris, Rosa spp., and Alnus spp. Additionally, Przewalski's horses may dig for Festuca spp., Bromus inermis, and E. repens that grow beneath the ice and snow. Their winter diet is very similar to the winter diet of domestic horses, but differs from that revealed by isotope analysis of the historical (pre-captivity) population, which switched in winter to browsing shrubs, though the difference may be due to the extreme habitat pressure the historical population was under. In the wintertime, they eat their food more slowly than they do during other times of the year. Przewalski's horses seasonally display a set of changes collectively characteristic of physiologic adaptation to starvation, with their basal metabolic rate in winter being half what it is during springtime. This is not a direct consequence of decreased nutrient intake, but rather a programmed response to predictable seasonal dietary fluctuation.{{cite journal|last1=Arnold |first1=Walter |last2=Ruf |first2=Thomas |last3=Kuntz |first3=Regina |title=Seasonal adjustment of energy budget in a large wild mammal, the Przewalski horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) II. Energy expenditure |journal=The Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=209 |pages=4566–4573 |year=2006 |issue=22 |doi=10.1242/jeb.02536|pmid=17079726 |s2cid=250512 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2006JExpB.209.4566A }}

=Reproduction=

Mating occurs in late spring or early summer. Mating stallions do not start looking for mating partners until the age of five. Stallions assemble groups of mares or challenge the leader of another group for dominance. Females are able to give birth at the age of three and have a gestation period of 11–12 months. Foals are able to stand about an hour after birth.{{cite web |last=Luu |first=J. |title=Equus caballus przewalskii |url=http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Equus_caballus_przewalskii/ |publisher=University of Michigan Museum of Zoology |website=Animal Diversity Web |access-date=29 April 2019 |archive-date=20 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420173012/https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Equus_caballus_przewalskii/ |url-status=live }} The rate of infant mortality among foals is 25%, with 83.3% of these deaths resulting from leading stallion infanticide. Foals begin grazing within a few weeks but are not weaned for 8–13 months after birth. They reach sexual maturity at two years of age.{{cite web |title=Przewalski's Horse |url=https://www.aboutanimals.com/mammal/przewalskis-horse/ |website=aboutanimals |date=4 February 2016 |access-date=29 April 2019 |archive-date=20 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420172947/https://www.aboutanimals.com/mammal/przewalskis-horse/ |url-status=live }}

Population

=History=

File:Anneau, M.C. 8756.jpg and Western Liaoning. 6th-5th century BCE. Musée Cernuschi]]

Przewalski's-type wild horses appear in European cave art dating as far back as 20,000 years ago, but genetic investigation of a 35,870-year-old specimen from one such cave instead showed an affinity with extinct Iberian horse lineage and the modern domestic horse, suggesting that it was not Przewalski's horse being depicted in this art.{{cite journal|first1=Antoine |last1=Fages |first2=Kristian |last2=Hanghøj |first3=Naveed |last3=Khan |display-authors=etal |title=Tracking Five Millennia of Horse Management with Extensive Ancient Genome Time Series |journal=Cell |year=2019 |volume=177 |issue=6 |pages=1419–1435 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2019.03.049|pmid=31056281 |pmc=6547883 |doi-access=free }} Horse skeletons dating to the fifth to the third millennia BCE, found in Central Asia, with a range extending to the southern Urals and the Altai, belong to the genetic lineage of Przewalski's horse.{{cite journal |last1=Librado |first1=Pablo |last2=Khan |first2=Naveed |last3=kusliy |first3=Mariya A.|display-authors=etal |title=The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes |journal=Nature |year=2021 |volume=596 |issue=7882 |pages=634–640 |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-04018-9|pmid=34671162 |pmc=8550961 |bibcode=2021Natur.598..634L |s2cid=239050837 }} Of particular note are the horses of this lineage found in the archaeological sites of the Chalcolithic Botai culture. Sites dating from the mid-fourth-millennium BCE show evidence of horse domestication.{{cite journal|first1=Alan K |last1=Outram |first2=Natalie A |last2=Stear |first3=Robin |last3=Bendrey |first4=Sandra |last4=Olsen |first5=Alexei |last5=Kasparov |first6=Victor |last6=Zaibert |first7=Nick |last7=Thorpe |first8=Richard P |last8=Evershed |title=The Earliest Horse Harnessing and Milking |journal=Science |volume=323 |pages=1332–1335 |year=2009 |issue=5919 |doi=10.1126/science.1168594|pmid=19265018 |bibcode=2009Sci...323.1332O |s2cid=5126719 }} Analysis of ancient DNA from Botai horse specimens from about 3000 BCE reveals them to have DNA markers consistent with the lineage of modern Przewalski's horses.

There are sporadic reports of Przewalski's horse in the historical record before its formal characterization. The Buddhist monk Bodowa wrote a description of what is thought to have been Przewalski's horse about AD 900, and an account from 1226 reports an incident involving wild horses during Genghis Khan's campaign against the Tangut empire. In the fifteenth century, Johann Schiltberger recorded one of the first European sightings of the horses in the journal recounting his trip to Mongolia as a prisoner of the Mongol Khan.{{cite web |url=http://afs.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/przewalski |series=Breeds of Livestock |title=Przewalski Horse |website=Breeds of Livestock, Department of Animal Science |publisher= Oklahoma State University |access-date=2019-04-29 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017090523/http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/przewalski/index.htm |archive-date=17 October 2014 |df=dmy-all}} Another was recorded as a gift to the Manchurian emperor around 1630, its value as a gift suggesting a difficulty in obtaining them. John Bell, a Scottish doctor in service to Peter the Great from 1719 to 1722, observed a horse in Russia's Tomsk Oblast that was apparently this species, and a few decades later in 1750, a large hunt with thousands of beaters organized by the Manchurian emperor killed between two and three hundred of these horses.

File:Przewalski horse skull 01.JPG

The species is named after a Russian colonel of Polish descent, Nikolai Przhevalsky (1839–1888) (Nikołaj Przewalski in Polish). An explorer and naturalist, he obtained the skull and hide of an animal shot in 1878 in the Gobi near today's China–Mongolia border. He would travel to the Dzungarian Basin to observe it in the wild. In 1881, the horse received a formal scientific description and was named Equus przevalskii by Ivan Semyonovich Polyakov, based on Przewalski's collection and description, while in 1884, the sole exemplar of the horse in Europe was a preserved specimen in the Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. This was supplemented in 1894 when the brothers Grum-Grzhimailo returned several hides and skulls to St. Petersburg and described the horse's behavior in the wild. A number of these horses were captured around 1900 by Carl Hagenbeck and placed in zoos, and these, along with one later captive, reproduced to give rise to today's population.

After 1903, there were no reports of the wild population until 1947, when several isolated groups were observed and a lone filly captured. Although local herdsmen reported seeing as many as 50 to 100 takhis grazing in small groups then, there were only sporadic sightings of single groups of two or three animals after that, mostly near natural wells. Two scientific expeditions in 1955 and 1962 failed to find any. After herders and naturalists reported single harem groups in 1966 and 1967, the last observation of the wild horse in its native habitat was of a single stallion in 1969. Expeditions after this failed to locate any horses, and the species would be designated "extinct in the wild" for over 30 years. Competition with livestock, hunting, capture of foals for zoological collections, military activities, and harsh winters recorded in 1945, 1948, and 1956 are considered to be main causes of the decline in Przewalski's horse population.

The wild population was already rare at its first scientific characterization. Przewalski reported seeing them only from a distance and may have instead sighted herds of local onager Mongolian wild asses. He was only able to obtain specimens of the type from Kirghiz hunters. The range of Przewalski's horse was limited to the arid Dzungarian Basin in the Gobi Desert."Przevalsky's Wild Horse", Nature, 30:391-392 (1884). It has been suggested that this was not their natural habitat, but, like the onager, they were a steppe animal driven to this barren last refuge by the dual pressures of hunting and habitat loss to agricultural grazing.{{cite journal |first1=Petra |last1=Kaczensky |first2=Martina |last2=Burnik Šturm |first3=Mikhail V. |last3=Sablin |first4=Christian C. |last4=Voigt |first5=Steve |last5=Smith |first6=Oyunsaikhan |last6=Ganbaatar |first7=Boglarka |last7=Balint |first8=Chris |last8=Walzer |first9=Natalia N. |last9=Spasskaya |title=Stable isotopes reveal diet shift from pre-extinction to reintroduced Przewalski's horses |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=7 |page=5950 |year=2017 |issue=1 |doi=10.1038/s41598-017-05329-6|pmid=28729625 |pmc=5519547 |bibcode=2017NatSR...7.5950K }} There were two distinct populations recognized by local Mongolians, a lighter steppe variety and a darker mountain one. This distinction is seen in early twentieth-century descriptions. Their mountainous habitat included the Takhiin Shar Nuruu (The Yellow Wild-Horse Mountain Range).{{cite book |last=Fijn |first=Natasha |chapter=13. The domestic and the wild in the Mongolian horse and the takhi |title= Taxonomic Tapestries: The Threads of Evolutionary, Behavioural and Conservation Research |editor1-last=Behie |editor1-first=Alison M |editor2-last=Ozenham |editor2-first=Marc F |year=2015 |publisher=ANU Press, The Australian National University |location=Canberra |pages=279–298 |doi=10.22459/TT.05.2015.13 |doi-access=free }} In their last decades in the wild, the remnant population was limited to the small region between the Takhiin Shar Nuruu and Bajtag-Bogdo mountain ridges.

=Captivity=

File:Equus ferus przewalskii 2.jpg

Attempts to obtain specimens for exhibit and captive breeding were largely unsuccessful until 1902, when 28 captured foals were brought to Europe. These and a small number of additional captives would be distributed among zoos and breeding centers in Europe and the United States. Many facilities failed in their attempts at captive breeding, but a few programs were established. However, by the mid-1930s, inbreeding had caused reduced fertility, and the captive population experienced a genetic bottleneck, with the surviving captive breeding stock descended from only 11 of the founder captives. In addition, in at least one instance, the progeny of interbreeding with a domestic horse was bred back into the captive Przewalski's horse population. However, recent studies have shown only minimal genetic contribution of this domestic horse to the captive population.{{cite journal |last1=Bowling |first1=Ann T. |last2=Ryder |first2=Oliver A. |title=Genetic studies of blood markers in Przewalski's horse |journal=The Journal of Heredity |volume=78 |issue=2 |pages=75–80 |year=1987 |url=http://cricket.biol.sc.edu/papers/horses/Genetic%20studies%20of%20blood%20markers%20in%20przewalski%27s%20horses.pdf |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a110340 |pmid=3584938 |archive-date=18 May 2021 |access-date=21 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518235306/http://cricket.biol.sc.edu/papers/horses/Genetic%20studies%20of%20blood%20markers%20in%20przewalski%27s%20horses.pdf |url-status=live }}

The situation was improved when the exchange of breeding animals among facilities increased genetic diversity and there was a consequent improvement in fertility, but the population experienced another genetic bottleneck when many of the horses failed to survive World War II. The most valuable group, in Askania Nova, Ukraine, was shot by German soldiers during World War II occupation, and the group in the United States had died out. Only two captive populations in zoos remained, in Munich and in Prague, and of the 31 remaining horses at war's end, only 9 became ancestors of the subsequent captive population. By the end of the 1950s, only 12 individual horses were left in the world's zoos.

A wild-caught mare captured as a foal a decade earlier was introduced into the Ukrainian captive population in 1957. This would prove the last wild-caught horse, and with the presumed extinction of the wild population, last sighted in Mongolia in the late 1960s, the captive population became the sole representatives of Przewalski's horse. Genetic diversity received a much-needed boost from this new source, with the spread of her bloodline through the inbred captive groups leading to their increased reproductive success, and by 1965, there were more than 130 animals spread among thirty-two zoos and parks.

=Conservation efforts=

File:Przewalski's Horse (02710137).jpg

In 1977, the Foundation for the Preservation and Protection of the Przewalski Horse was founded in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, by Jan and Inge Bouman. The foundation started a program of exchange between captive populations in zoos worldwide to reduce inbreeding and later began its own breeding program. As a result of such efforts, the extant herd has retained a far greater genetic diversity than its genetic bottleneck made likely. By 1979, when this concerted program of population management to maximize genetic diversity was begun, there were almost four hundred horses in sixteen facilities, a number that had grown by the early 1990s to over 1,500.

While dozens of zoos worldwide have Przewalski's horses in small numbers, specialized reserves are also dedicated primarily to the species. The world's largest captive-breeding program for Przewalski's horses is at the Askania Nova preserve in Ukraine. From 1998, thirty-one horses were also released in the unenclosed Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine and Belarus. People evacuated the zone after the Chernobyl accident, so now it serves as a deserted de facto nature reserve. Though poaching has taken a toll on numbers,{{cite web |last=Gill |first=Victoria |date=27 July 2011 |title=Chernobyl's Przewalski's horses are poached for meat |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14277058 |website=BBC Nature |access-date=2 May 2016 |df=dmy-all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180427213925/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14277058 |archive-date=27 April 2018}} as of 2019 the estimated population in the Chernobyl zone was over 100 individuals.{{Cite web|url=https://glavcom.ua/kyiv/news/u-chornobilskiy-zoni-prizhilisya-koni-przhevalskogo-foto-539517.html|title=У Чорнобильській зоні прижилися коні Пржевальського|date=26 October 2018|access-date=26 April 2020|archive-date=11 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411144702/https://glavcom.ua/kyiv/news/u-chornobilskiy-zoni-prizhilisya-koni-przhevalskogo-foto-539517.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web | url=http://dazv.gov.ua/novini-ta-media/vsi-novyny/chornobilskij-zapovidnik-spilno-z-kijivskim-zooparkom-vivchayut-dikikh-konej-przhevalskogo-u-zoni-vidchuzhennya.html | title=Чорнобильський заповідник спільно з Київським зоопарком вивчають диких коней Пржевальського у зоні відчуження | access-date=3 September 2022 | archive-date=26 July 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726144020/http://dazv.gov.ua/novini-ta-media/vsi-novyny/chornobilskij-zapovidnik-spilno-z-kijivskim-zooparkom-vivchayut-dikikh-konej-przhevalskogo-u-zoni-vidchuzhennya.html | url-status=bot: unknown }}{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/news-52400959|title = У Чорнобилі знайшли обгоріле лоша. Тепер лікують у притулку|newspaper = BBC News Україна|archive-date = 7 November 2021|access-date = 26 April 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211107151201/https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/news-52400959|url-status = live}}{{cite web|url=https://zora-irpin.info/zavezeni-z-mongoliyi-koni-przhevalskogo-prizhilisya-u-zoni-vidchuzhennya-chaes/|website=zora-irpin.info|title=Завезені з Монголії коні Пржевальського прижилися у зоні відчуження ЧАЕС|date=19 February 2020|language=uk}}{{cite web|last1=Wendle |first1=John |title=Animals Rule Chernobyl 30 Years After Nuclear Disaster |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/060418-chernobyl-wildlife-thirty-year-anniversary-science/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418224940/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/060418-chernobyl-wildlife-thirty-year-anniversary-science/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 April 2016 |website=National Geographic |date=18 April 2016 |access-date=2 May 2016}}

Le Villaret, located in the Cevennes National Park in southern France and run by the Association Takh, is a breeding site for Przewalski's horses that was created to allow the free expression of natural Przewalski's horse behaviors. In 1993, eleven zoo-born horses were brought to Le Villaret. Horses born there are adapted to life in the wild, free to choose their mates, and required to forage independently. This was intended to produce individuals capable of being reintroduced into Mongolia. In 2012, 39 individuals were at Le Villaret. An intensely researched population of free-ranging animals was also introduced to the Hortobágy National Park puszta in Hungary; data on social structure, behavior, and diseases gathered from these animals are used to improve the Mongolian conservation effort. An additional breeding population of Przewalski's horses roams the former Döberitzer Heide military proving ground, now a nature reserve in Dallgow-Döberitz, Germany. Established in 2008, this population comprised 24 horses in 2019.{{Cite web|date=2019-03-25|title=Die Przewalski-Pferde in der Döberitzer Heide|url=https://www.doris-semmelmann.de/die-przewalski-pferde-in-der-doeberitzer-heide-2627/|access-date=2021-01-18|language=de-DE|archive-date=24 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124155955/https://www.doris-semmelmann.de/die-przewalski-pferde-in-der-doeberitzer-heide-2627/|url-status=live}} Another population is being established in the Iberian System in Spain, the first free-roaming Przewalski’s horses in Western Europe.{{Cite web |date=2023-11-30 |title=La renaturalización trae al Alto Tajo los únicos caballos Przewalski que pastarán en libertad en Europa Occidental |url=https://rewilding-spain.com/en/news/rewilding-brings-to-the-iberian-highlands-the-first-free-roaming-przewalskis-horses-in-western-europe/ |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=Rewilding Spain |language=en-GB}}

In 2024, a Colorado rancher discovered what appears to be a Przewalski's horse at a Kansas livestock auction,{{Cite news|date=2023-11-30|title='Ferrari in a junkyard': Mules sold at auction are rare, endangered horses|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/08/09/przewalskis-horses-rescued-dna-shrek-fiona/|access-date=2024-08-10|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en-US|archive-date=11 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811122911/https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/08/09/przewalskis-horses-rescued-dna-shrek-fiona/|url-status=live}} mistakenly identified as a mule. Another similar horse was found at a Utah sanctuary. Genetic tests suggest both are Przewalski's horses, raising concerns about how they ended up in U.S. auctions.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/nyregion/rare-horses-przewalski.html |title=How Two of the Rarest Horses on Earth Got Lost |work=The New York Times |date=23 October 2024 |access-date=23 October 2024 |archive-date=28 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241028014537/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/nyregion/rare-horses-przewalski.html/ |url-status=live |last1=Nir |first1=Sarah Maslin }} One horse, Fiona, was euthanized following apparent organ failure, while the other's fate is unreported.

=Reintroduction=

File:Group of Takhi at Hustai.jpg

The Przewalski's Horse Reintroduction Project of China was initiated in 1985 when 11 wild horses were imported from overseas. After more than two decades of effort, the Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding Centre has bred a large number of horses, 55 of which were released into the Kalamely Mountain area. The animals quickly adapted to their new environment. In 1988, six foals were born and survived, and by 2001, over 100 horses were at the centre. {{As of|2013}}, the center hosted 127 horses divided into 13 breeding herds and three bachelor herds.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

Reintroductions organized by Western European countries started in the 1990s. Several populations have now been released into the wild. A cooperative venture between the Zoological Society of London and Mongolian scientists has successfully reintroduced these horses from zoos into their natural habitat in Mongolia. In 1992, 16 horses were released into the wild in Mongolia, followed by additional animals later. One of the areas to which they were reintroduced became Khustain Nuruu National Park in 1998. Another reintroduction site is Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area, located at the fringes of the Gobi Desert.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

In 2001, Przewalski's horses were reintroduced into the Kalamaili Nature Reserve in Xinjiang, China.{{cite journal | last1=Chen | first1=Jinliang | last2=Weng | first2=Qiang | last3=Chao| first3=Jie | last4=Hu| first4=Defu | last5=Taya | first5=Kazuyoshi | title=Reproduction and Development of the Released Przewalski's Horses (Equus przewalskii) in Xinjiang, China | journal=Journal of Equine Science | volume=19 | issue=1 | pages=1–7 | year=2008 | doi=10.1294/jes.19.1 | pmid=24833949 | pmc=4019202}}

Since 2004, there has been a program to reintroduce Przewalski's horses that were bred in France into Mongolia.{{cite web |url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/11/Claudia-Feh-explorer-moments-reintroducing-endangered-Przewalski-horses-into-the-wild/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118125158/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/11/Claudia-Feh-explorer-moments-reintroducing-endangered-Przewalski-horses-into-the-wild/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 November 2016 |title=A Wild Horse on the Comeback Trail |first=Gary |last=Strauss |work=National Geographic |date=2016-11-17 |access-date=2019-04-14 |df=dmy-all}} Instrumental to that 2004 reintroduction was Claudia Feh, a Swiss equine specialist and conservation biologist, Feh led an effort to bring together animals that zoos had conserved to create a breeding population in southern France. Then, after it was established, three family groups were relocated to Khovd in western Mongolia. At a site on the northern edge of the Gobi Desert, Feh worked in cooperation with local people to ensure the horses survived and flourished. For this work, Feh received a Rolex Award in 2004.{{cite web

| url = https://www.rolex.org/rolex-awards/environment/claudia-feh

| title = Claudia Feh: Wild Horses And Nomads

| date = 2004

| website = Rolex Awards

| access-date = April 15, 2024

| quote = Przewalski's horses had disappeared from the Mongolian steppes by the 1970s but Claudia Feh led one of several initiatives reintroducing them to the habitat they had ranged for centuries – and improved the lives of local nomads in the process.

| archive-date = 3 March 2024

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240303054147/https://www.rolex.org/rolex-awards/environment/claudia-feh

| url-status = live

}}

In 2004 and 2005, 22 horses were released by the Association Takh to a third reintroduction site in the buffer zone of the Khar Us Nuur National Park, in the northern edge of the Gobi ecoregion. In the winter of 2009–2010, one of the worst dzud or snowy winter conditions ever hit Mongolia. The population of Przewalski's horse in the Great Gobi B SPA was drastically affected, providing clear evidence of the risks associated with reintroducing small and sequestered species in unpredictable and unfamiliar environments.{{citation needed|date=March 2021|reason=According to whom?}}

After reintroduced horses had successfully reproduced, the status of the animal was changed from "extinct in the wild" to "endangered" in 2005, while on the IUCN Red List they were reclassified from "extinct in the wild" to "critically endangered", after a reassessment in 2008, and from "critically endangered" to "endangered" after a 2011 reassessment.

In 2011, Prague Zoo started a new project, Return of the Wild Horses. With the support of public and many strategic partners, yearly transports of captive-bred horses into the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area continued.{{cite web |title=Return of the Przewalski's Horse to Mongolia |url=https://www.zoopraha.cz/en/animals/we-help-them-to-survive/projects/7678-return-of-the-przewalski-s-horse-to-mongolia |website=Zoo Praha |access-date=2019-06-27 |df=dmy-all |language=en}} {{As of|2011|lc=y}}, an estimated total of almost 400 horses existed in three free-ranging populations in the wild. Prague Zoo has transported horses to Mongolia in several rounds in cooperation with partners (Czech Air Force, European Breeding Programme for Przewalski's Horses, Association pour le cheval de Przewalski: Takh, Czech Development Agency, Czech Embassy in Mongolia, and others). The zoo has the longest uninterrupted history of breeding Przewalski's horses in the world and keeps the studbook of this species.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

The first reintroduction into the Orenburg region on the Russian steppe occurred in 2016.{{cite news| last=Blua | first=Antoine | title=Endangered Przewalski's Horses Back On Russian Steppe | date=13 March 2016 | access-date=17 December 2020 | publisher=RadioFreeEurope | url=https://www.rferl.org/a/endangered-horses-back-on-russian-steppe/27607786.html}}{{cite journal | last1=Bakirova | first1=Rafilia T | last2=Sharkikh | first2=Tatjana | title=Programme on establishing a semi-free population of Przewalski's horse in Orenburg State Nature Reserve: the first successful project on the reintroduction of the species in Russia | journal=Nature Conservation Research | volume=4 | issue=Supplement 2 | pages=57–64 | year=2019| doi=10.24189/ncr.2019.025| doi-access=free | url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/programme-on-establishing-a-semi-free-population-of-przewalski-s-horse-in-orenburg-state-nature-reserve-the-first-successful-project-on-the/pdf }}

In May 2023, a herd of ten Przewalski's horses obtained from Monts D'Azur Biological Reserve in France was introduced by Rewilding Europe to the Iberian Highlands rewilding landscape in Spain, near Villanueva de Alcorón. Following an acclimatization period, the horses were released into the reserve proper in September. This introduction was intended to address the buildup of dense scrub caused by the decrease in traditional sheep grazing due to rural depopulation. The horses are intended to fill a niche similar to that of the extinct European wild horse and of contemporary domesticated herbivores by opening the landscape through low-intensity grazing and browsing, thereby enhancing biodiversity and lowering the risk of forest fires. Future introductions are planned.{{cite news | title=How an Iberian rewilding plan aims to repopulate 'empty Spain' | date=7 July 2023 | access-date=29 October 2023 | work=The Guardian | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/07/iberian-rewilding-project-aims-repopulate-empty-spain | archive-date=4 August 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804042614/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/07/iberian-rewilding-project-aims-repopulate-empty-spain | url-status=live }}{{cite news | title=Western Europe's first free-roaming herd of Przewalski's horses to enhance Iberian Highland rewilding | date=8 July 2023 | access-date=29 October 2023 | publisher=Rewilding Europe | url=https://rewildingeurope.com/news/western-europes-first-free-roaming-herd-of-przewalskis-horses-to-enhance-iberian-highland-rewilding/ | archive-date=10 July 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710092015/https://rewildingeurope.com/news/western-europes-first-free-roaming-herd-of-przewalskis-horses-to-enhance-iberian-highland-rewilding/ | url-status=live }}

In June 2024 six mares and a stallion were reintroduced to Kazakhstan from zoos in Europe,{{cite news |last1=Kevany |first1=Sophie |title=Wild horses return to Kazakhstan steppes after absence of two centuries |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/10/przewalskis-horses-only-wild-species-return-central-asian-steppes-kazakhstan |access-date=12 June 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=10 June 2024}} ten years after plans were announced to do so.{{cite news |last=Rutz |first=Julia |title=Effort Begins to Revive Endangered Przewalski Horse Population in Kazakhstan |date=11 November 2014 |access-date=18 December 2020 |publisher=Astana Times |url=https://astanatimes.com/2014/11/effort-begins-revive-endangered-przewalski-horse-population-kazakhstan/ |archive-date=14 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514184846/https://astanatimes.com/2014/11/effort-begins-revive-endangered-przewalski-horse-population-kazakhstan/ |url-status=live }} The operation was organised by Prague Zoo, which selected horses from various programs in Europe, which were housed at Tierpark Berlin for some months before being transported to Kazakhstan in Czech army planes.{{cite web | last=Mao | first=Frances | title=Przewalski's horses return to Kazakhstan steppes after 200 years | website=BBC News | date=13 June 2024 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cljj0y15nnko | access-date=13 June 2024}}

=Assisted reproduction and cloning=

File:Przewalski 26-9-2004-3.jpg

In the earlier decades of captivity, the insular breeding by individual zoos led to inbreeding and reduced fertility. In 1979, several American zoos began a collaborative breeding-exchange program to maximize genetic diversity. Recent advances in equine reproductive science have also been used to preserve and expand the gene pool. Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo successfully reversed a vasectomy on a Przewalski horse in 2007—the first operation of its kind on this species, and possibly the first ever on any endangered species. While normally, a vasectomy may be performed on an endangered animal under limited circumstances, particularly if an individual has already produced many offspring and its genes are overrepresented in the population, scientists realized the animal in question was one of the most genetically valuable Przewalski's horses in the North American breeding program. The first birth by artificial insemination occurred on 27 July 2013 at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.{{cite magazine |title=First Przewalski's Horse Born Via Artificial Insemination |date=5 August 2013 |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130805-przewalski-horse-born-artificial-insemination-animal-science/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130807120240/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130805-przewalski-horse-born-artificial-insemination-animal-science/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 August 2013 |magazine=National Geographic |access-date=14 August 2013 |last=Shenk |first=Emily |df=dmy-all}}

In 2020, the first cloned Przewalski's horse was born, the result of a collaboration between San Diego Zoo Global, ViaGen Equine and Revive & Restore.{{Cite web|title=Przewalski's Horse (Takhi) Project {{!}} Revive & Restore|url=https://reviverestore.org/projects/przewalskis-horse/|access-date=2020-11-15|language=en-US|archive-date=8 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200908050955/https://reviverestore.org/projects/przewalskis-horse/|url-status=live}} The cloning was carried out by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), whereby a viable embryo is created by transplanting the DNA-containing nucleus of a somatic cell into an immature egg cell (oocyte) that has had its nucleus removed, producing offspring genetically identical to the somatic cell donor.{{Cite journal|last1=Tian|first1=X. Cindy|last2=Kubota|first2=Chikara|last3=Enright|first3=Brian|last4=Yang|first4=Xiangzhong|date=2003-11-13|title=Cloning animals by somatic cell nuclear transfer – biological factors|url= |journal=Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology|volume=1|issue=1|pages=98|doi=10.1186/1477-7827-1-98|issn=1477-7827|pmc=521203|pmid=14614770 |doi-access=free }} Since the oocyte used was from a domestic horse, this was an example of interspecies SCNT.{{Cite journal|last1=Lagutina|first1=Irina|last2=Fulka|first2=Helena|last3=Lazzari|first3=Giovanna|last4=Galli|first4=Cesare|date=October 2013|title=Interspecies Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer: Advancements and Problems|journal=Cellular Reprogramming|volume=15|issue=5|pages=374–384|doi=10.1089/cell.2013.0036|issn=2152-4971|pmc=3787369|pmid=24033141}}

The somatic cell donor was a Przewalski horse stallion named Kuporovic, born in the UK in 1975 and relocated three years later to the US, where he died in 1998. Due to concerns over the loss of genetic variation in the captive Przewalski's horse population, and in anticipation of the development of new cloning techniques, tissue from the stallion was cryopreserved at the San Diego Zoo's Frozen Zoo. Breeding of this individual in the 1980s had already substantially increased the genetic diversity of the captive population after he was discovered to have more unique alleles than any other horse living at the time, including otherwise lost genetic material from two of the original captive founders. To produce the clone, frozen skin fibroblasts were thawed, and grown in cell culture.{{Cite web|title=About Cloning {{!}} Revive & Restore|url=https://reviverestore.org/projects/przewalskis-horse/about-cloning/|access-date=2020-11-15|language=en-US|archive-date=30 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130143403/https://reviverestore.org/projects/przewalskis-horse/about-cloning/|url-status=live}} An oocyte was collected from a domestic horse, and its nucleus replaced by a nucleus collected from a cultured Przewalski's horse fibroblast. The resulting embryo was induced to begin division. It was cultured until it reached the blastocyst stage, then implanted into a domestic horse surrogate mare, which carried the embryo to term and delivered a foal with the Przewalski horse DNA of the long-deceased stallion.

The cloned horse was named Kurt, after Dr. Kurt Benirschke, a geneticist who developed the idea of cryopreserving genetic material from species considered to be endangered. His ideas led to creating the Frozen Zoo as a genetic library.{{Cite web|title=Kurt Benirschke (1924-) {{!}} The Embryo Project Encyclopedia|url=https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/kurt-benirschke-1924|access-date=2020-11-15|website=embryo.asu.edu|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030173303/https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/kurt-benirschke-1924|url-status=live}} In 2021, Kurt was relocated to the breeding herd at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.{{cite web |last1=Beale |first1=Mel |title=Why a cloned foal born at a USA zoo is key to the survival of his endangered breed |url=https://www.yourhorse.co.uk/news/cloned-foal-key-survival-endangered-breed/ |website=Your Horse |language=en |date=10 June 2021}}{{cite web |url= https://stories.sandiegozoo.org/2022/10/20/a-clone-and-his-mentor/ |title= A Clone and His Mentor |author= |date= 20 October 2022 |website= sandiegozoo.org |publisher= San Diego Zoo |access-date= 29 February 2024 |archive-date= 29 February 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240229234821/https://stories.sandiegozoo.org/2022/10/20/a-clone-and-his-mentor/ |url-status= dead }} In order to integrate him into the existing herd, Kurt was partnered with a young female named Holly, a few months older than him, in order to allow him to learn the social and communication behaviors of wild Przewalski's horses. On reaching maturity at three to four years of age, Kurt is intended to become the breeder stallion for the San Diego Zoo herd to pass Kuporovic's genes into the larger captive Przewalski's horse population and thereby increase the genetic variation of the species.

In 2023, a genetic twin of Kurt, named Ollie, was born from cloning with the help of the San Diego Zoo Global Frozen Zoo. It is the first reported case of any endangered species having more than one clone successfully produced. This individual eventually joins Kurt and Holly at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.{{cite web|author=Black, A.|date=April 19, 2023|title=Second Przewalski horse born from cloning|url=https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/second-cloned-przewalski-horse/509-4c46e2f6-c583-4cd6-9b51-5065124f3e14|website=CBS News 8|access-date=April 20, 2023}}{{cite bioRxiv |biorxiv=10.1101/2023.12.20.572538 |title=Endangered Przewalski's horse, Equus przewalskii, cloned from historically cryopreserved cells |date= 9 January 2024 |last1=Novak |first1=Ben J. |last2=Ryder |first2=Oliver A. |last3=Houck |first3=Marlys L. |last4=Putnam |first4=Andrea S. |last5=Walker |first5=Kelcey |last6=Russell |first6=Lexie |last7=Russell |first7=Blake |last8=Walker |first8=Shawn |last9=Arenivas |first9=Sanaz Sadeghieh |last10=Aston |first10=Lauren |last11=Veneklasen |first11=Gregg |last12=Ivy |first12=Jamie A. |last13=Koepfli |first13=Klaus-Peter |last14=Rusnak |first14=Anna |last15=Simek |first15=Jaroslav |last16=Zhuk |first16=Anna |last17=Phelan |first17=Ryan }} Due to having been conceived through the transfer of a somatic cell nucleus into an egg cell obtained from a domestic horse donor, Kurt and Ollie both display the mitochondrial genome of domestic horses instead of belonging to a Przewlaski horse mithocondrial clade. However, as mitochondrial DNA is maternally inherited, they will not pass on these domestic horse genes.

Notes

References

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External links

{{cite web |website=ARKive |url=http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Equus_ferus_przewalskii/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060507100326/http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Equus_ferus_przewalskii/ |archive-date=2006-05-07 |title=images and movies of the Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus przewalskii)}}
{{cite web |url=http://www.przewalskihorse.nl/ |title=Details of the re-introduction program for Przewalski's horse}}
{{cite web |url=http://www.takhi.org/cms/index.php?=&lang=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928155519/http://www.takhi.org/cms/index.php?=&lang=en |archive-date=2006-09-28 |title=Umbrella organization of all institutions participating in the reintroduction of takhis in Mongolia}}
{{cite web |url=http://www.takh.org/ |publisher=Association Takh |title=Przewalski horse conservation organization, reintroduced the species to Mongolia in 2004 and 2005 and continues research and conservation on the Mongolian steppe}}

Category:Horse subspecies

Category:Mammals of Mongolia

Category:Mammals of Central Asia

Category:Mammals of East Asia

Category:Mammals of Russia

Category:Natural history of China

Category:Endangered fauna of Asia

Category:Mammals of Europe

Category:Mammals described in 1881