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:

1. These beautiful wild horses grow to over 2 metres long and can weigh up to 350 kg.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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?