Does a zoo near you have a population of Przewalski's Horses?

Question

I'm doing dissertation research, and need to locate some domestic populations to work with. I'll give the "best answer" to the person who can tell me the highest number of different herd locations.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I know of 12 locations of populations of Przewalski's horse:

Hustai National Park, Mongolia
Askania Nova, Ukraine
Chernobyl, Ukraine
Hortobagy puszta, Hungary
Monarto Zoo, Australia
Clocaenog Forest, North Wales
Wilds Wildlife Preserve, Cumberland Ohio
Toronto Zoo, Toronto Canada
Smithsonian Zoo, Washington DC
San Diego Zoo, San Diego California
Munich Zoo, Germany
Prague Zoo, Czech Republic

There have also been herds introduced to Kazakhstan and China (not sure of the exact locations of these two).

One figure I heard was that they are located in 135 zoos and private parks in addition to the ones reintroduced back in to the wild.

I also heard that all the populations today are decended from about 15 horses which were captured about 100 years ago.

Hope this can help you somewhat.

Answer 2

They are so beautiful and rare!

Takhi, as the Przewalski's horse (say: sha VAL ski) is known in its native land of Mongolia, is believed by some scientists to be the wild progenitor of the domestic horse.

Europeans first knew of the takhi in 1427.

Based on an unpublished account of Hans Schilfberger’s travels to the Tien Shan Mountains.

But it was Nikolai Przewalski of Russia who wrote the first detailed descriptions for the takhi in 1881, hence his name has been used by Europeans to designate the species.

Takhi populations were fairly stable until around the time of WWII, when encroachment from herders jeopardized the habitat, and takhi were over-hunted by military groups needing meat. They disappeared from the wild about 30 years ago, and were found only in captivity until 1997, when the first harem of one stallion, five mares, and two foals were released in the Djungarian Gobi. Since then, several new harems have been released, with 39 foals being born in the wild.