Here is a small herd of Przewalski’s horses
Today I want to write about an animal that was extinct in the wild, but is now making a comeback, Przewalski’s horse.
Here are five interesting facts about them:
- These beautiful wild horses grow to over 2 metres long and can weigh up to 350 kg.
- They are named after a Russian explorer Nikolai Przhevalsky who found them in the 1880’s. The different spelling is the Polish version of his name.
- Przewalski’s horses live in small family groups, with a dominant stallion and a few females plus their young. Young males are kicked out of the family group after about 2-3 years and form small bachelor groups.
- In 1966 they became extinct in the wild. However, a breeding program started from 9 Przewalski’s horses that were held in captivity and now there are about 1,500 in captivity around the world. As a result, they were reintroduced to their native habitat in Mongolia in the past few years and there are now about 300 individuals in the wild.
- Przewalski’s horses live in grassy deserts and plains in western Mongolia and are still considered endangered.
I hope that you found these facts interesting and learned something new.
Are there any other interesting facts that you would like to share about Przewalski’s horse?
