PRZEWALSKI HORSES BACK FROM THE ABYSS

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http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=6438

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Przewalski's Horses Return from Brink of Extinction

by: Chad Mendell, Staff Writer

December 2005 Article # 6438

 

Scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) recently

recommended that the World Conservation Union (IUNC) upgrade the

status of the wild Asian Przewalski's (pronounced zeh-val-skee) horses

from " extinct " to " endangered " after their successful reintroduction

into the wild.

 

A group of 60 ZSL scientists recently evaluated the population of

free-ranging Przewalski's and found the hearty horses were able to

sustain their numbers in the wild. In early December, they presented

their data to the IUNC with the recommendation of taking the horses

off the extinction list.

 

Przewalski's horses once roamed wild over the vast grasslands of

Central Asia. By 1945, only 31 Przewalski's horses were alive in

captivity throughout the world and none of the horses remained in the

wild. Through successful breeding programs, the number climbed to more

than 1,500 by the early 1990s. Scientist began reintroducing the

captive-bred horses to their natural habitat in Mongolia.

 

The small (around 13 hands), stocky Przewalski's horses are considered

to be genetically different than domestic horses because they have two

additional chromosomes. For this reason, scientists do not classify

them as descendants of the domestic horse, but a true wild breed.

 

Przewalski's horses were hunted heavily by locals during the 17th

Century and again near the end of the World War II. Their population

was further decreased because of farming on their natural habitat.

 

Nick Lindsay, head of international zoo programs at the ZSL, said in a

press release, " There were concerns that, having bred for 13

generations in captivity, the animals would not be able to survive in

the wild. However, there are now 248 free-ranging Przewalski's horses

in the wild, a factor which has resulted in their remarkable status

reclassification. "