Wild horses return to Kazakhstan after 200-year absence

In late August, two Przewalski’s horse foals were born in a reintroduction center within Kazakhstan’s Altyn Dala State Nature Reserve, marking the first time wild horses have been born on Kazakh land in over 200 years.

The foals, both males, were born to mares Tessa and Umbra, with Zorro as their father, though Zorro has since died.

Conservationists with the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK) view these births as evidence that the horses are adapting to the local climate and terrain. Przewalski’s horses, also known locally as kertagy, are the only wild horse species remaining and were once considered extinct in the wild. A single adult discovered in 1996 led to the species being reclassified as critically endangered, and later as endangered in 2011 by the IUCN.

Historically, these horses lived across the steppe grasslands of Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China, playing a vital role in maintaining the health of those ecosystems. Between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries, the Russian Empire’s colonization of the region led to the extinction of Przewalski’s horses in Kazakhstan through habitat loss, hunting, and interbreeding with domestic horses.

Since 2011, zoos have been involved in captive breeding programs, and in the last three years, 22 horses were brought to Kazakhstan from Prague Zoo and Tierpark Berlin. Conservationists plan to introduce a total of 40 horses to establish a self-sustaining population and restore the steppe ecosystem.