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127-653: The Mongolian Government declared Hustai National Park as a Specially Protected Area in 1993, one year after the initiation of the reintroduction project of the Takhi ( Przewalski's horse ) to the Hustain Nuruu. The HNP extends through the Khentii Mountains and includes the western edge of the Mongolian steppe at the boundaries of Altanbulag , Argalant and Bayankhangai Soums of Töv Province . The park

254-488: A fission of a large chromosome ancestral to domestic horse chromosome 5 to produce Przewalski's horse chromosomes 23 and 24, though conversely, a Robertsonian translocation that fused two chromosomes ancestral to those seen in Przewalski's horse to produce the single large domestic horse chromosome has also been proposed. Many smaller inversions , insertions and other rearrangements were observed between

381-564: A geneticist who developed the idea of cryopreserving genetic material from species considered to be endangered. His ideas led to creating the Frozen Zoo as a genetic library. In 2021, Kurt was relocated to the breeding herd at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park . In order to integrate him into the existing herd, Kurt was partnered with a young female named Holly, a few months older than him, in order to allow him to learn

508-407: A vasectomy on a Przewalski horse in 2007—the first operation of its kind on this species, and possibly the first ever on any endangered species. While normally, a vasectomy may be performed on an endangered animal under limited circumstances, particularly if an individual has already produced many offspring and its genes are overrepresented in the population, scientists realized the animal in question

635-403: A Przewlaski horse mithocondrial clade. Horse at least 48 published The horse ( Equus ferus caballus ) is a domesticated , one-toed , hoofed mammal . It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus . The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, Eohippus , into

762-454: A clear hierarchy of rank, led by a dominant individual, usually a mare. They are also social creatures that are able to form companionship attachments to their own species and to other animals, including humans. They communicate in various ways, including vocalizations such as nickering or whinnying, mutual grooming , and body language . Many horses will become difficult to manage if they are isolated, but with training, horses can learn to accept

889-428: A constant eye out for danger. Unlike humans, horses do not sleep in a solid, unbroken period of time, but take many short periods of rest. Horses spend four to fifteen hours a day in standing rest, and from a few minutes to several hours lying down. Total sleep time in a 24-hour period may range from several minutes to a couple of hours, mostly in short intervals of about 15 minutes each. The average sleep time of

1016-981: A contract with the Mongolian Government which delegated the management of the HNP to the new NGO. The HNPT conducts operations in five main activity areas as follows: The Trust has around 60 employees, working in five units as follows: Since 1993, the HNP has implemented the following international projects, supported by the Dutch Government: 47°45′54″N 105°52′42″E  /  47.76500°N 105.87833°E  / 47.76500; 105.87833 Takhi Przewalski's horse ( /( p ) ʃ ə ˈ v ɑː l s k iː z , ˌ p ɜːr ʒ ə -/ (p)shə- VAHL -skeez, PUR -zhə- ; Russian: [prʐɨˈvalʲskʲɪj] ( Пржевальский ); Polish: [pʂɛˈvalskʲi] ; Equus ferus przewalskii or Equus przewalskii ), also called

1143-434: A domestic horse was bred back into the captive Przewalski's horse population. However, recent studies have shown only minimal genetic contribution of this domestic horse to the captive population. The situation was improved when the exchange of breeding animals among facilities increased genetic diversity and there was a consequent improvement in fertility, but the population experienced another genetic bottleneck when many of

1270-535: A few weeks but are not weaned for 8–13 months after birth. They reach sexual maturity at two years of age. Przewalski's-type wild horses appear in European cave art dating as far back as 20,000 years ago, but genetic investigation of a 35,870-year-old specimen from one such cave instead showed an affinity with extinct Iberian horse lineage and the modern domestic horse, suggesting that it was not Przewalski's horse being depicted in this art. Horse skeletons dating to

1397-473: A full 60 calendar months (five years) old. The horse skeleton averages 205 bones. A significant difference between the horse skeleton and that of a human is the lack of a collarbone —the horse's forelimbs are attached to the spinal column by a powerful set of muscles, tendons, and ligaments that attach the shoulder blade to the torso. The horse's four legs and hooves are also unique structures. Their leg bones are proportioned differently from those of

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1524-640: A high level of intelligence that may or may not be used to cooperate with human handlers. Small size, by itself, is not an exclusive determinant. For example, the Shetland pony which averages 10 hands (40 inches, 102 cm), is considered a pony. Conversely, breeds such as the Falabella and other miniature horses , which can be no taller than 76 centimetres; 7.2 hands (30 in), are classified by their registries as very small horses, not ponies. Horses have 64 chromosomes . The horse genome

1651-439: A higher rate of gastric ulcers than horses listening to music, and racehorses stabled where a radio was played had a higher overall rate of ulceration than horses stabled where there was no radio playing. Horses have a great sense of balance, due partly to their ability to feel their footing and partly to highly developed proprioception —the unconscious sense of where the body and limbs are at all times. A horse's sense of touch

1778-569: A horse in Russia's Tomsk Oblast that was apparently this species, and a few decades later in 1750, a large hunt with thousands of beaters organized by the Manchurian emperor killed between two and three hundred of these horses. The species is named after a Russian colonel of Polish descent, Nikolai Przhevalsky (1839–1888) (Nikołaj Przewalski in Polish). An explorer and naturalist, he obtained

1905-413: A human as a companion, and thus be comfortable away from other horses. However, when confined with insufficient companionship, exercise, or stimulation, individuals may develop stable vices , an assortment of bad habits, mostly stereotypies of psychological origin, that include wood chewing, wall kicking, "weaving" (rocking back and forth), and other problems. Studies have indicated that horses perform

2032-420: A human. For example, the body part that is called a horse's "knee" is actually made up of the carpal bones that correspond to the human wrist . Similarly, the hock contains bones equivalent to those in the human ankle and heel . The lower leg bones of a horse correspond to the bones of the human hand or foot, and the fetlock (incorrectly called the "ankle") is actually the proximal sesamoid bones between

2159-526: A major component of grass, through the process of hindgut fermentation . Cellulose fermentation by symbiotic bacteria and other microbes occurs in the cecum and the large intestine . Horses cannot vomit , so digestion problems can quickly cause colic , a leading cause of death. Although horses do not have a gallbladder , they tolerate high amounts of fat in their diet. The horses' senses are based on their status as prey animals , where they must be aware of their surroundings at all times. The equine eye

2286-724: A much-needed boost from this new source, with the spread of her bloodline through the inbred captive groups leading to their increased reproductive success, and by 1965, there were more than 130 animals spread among thirty-two zoos and parks. In 1977, the Foundation for the Preservation and Protection of the Przewalski Horse was founded in Rotterdam , the Netherlands, by Jan and Inge Bouman. The foundation started

2413-481: A new study indicated ancient horses of the Botai culture are related to takhis, not to domestic horses as was previously thought. Specifically, the Botai horses appeared to be ancestral to the modern takhi, because all seven takhis nested within the phylogenetic tree of the 20 Botai horses. No comparison was made to definitively wild early takhis. The authors posit that modern Przewalski's horses are feral descendants of

2540-410: A nucleus collected from a cultured Przewalski's horse fibroblast. The resulting embryo was induced to begin division. It was cultured until it reached the blastocyst stage, then implanted into a domestic horse surrogate mare, which carried the embryo to term and delivered a foal with the Przewalski horse DNA of the long-deceased stallion. The cloned horse was named Kurt, after Dr. Kurt Benirschke ,

2667-797: A number of cognitive tasks on a daily basis, meeting mental challenges that include food procurement and identification of individuals within a social system . They also have good spatial discrimination abilities. They are naturally curious and apt to investigate things they have not seen before. Studies have assessed equine intelligence in areas such as problem solving , speed of learning, and memory . Horses excel at simple learning, but also are able to use more advanced cognitive abilities that involve categorization and concept learning . They can learn using habituation , desensitization , classical conditioning , and operant conditioning , and positive and negative reinforcement . One study has indicated that horses can differentiate between "more or less" if

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2794-622: A number that had grown by the early 1990s to over 1,500. While dozens of zoos worldwide have Przewalski's horses in small numbers, specialized reserves are also dedicated primarily to the species. The world's largest captive-breeding program for Przewalski's horses is at the Askania Nova preserve in Ukraine. From 1998, thirty-one horses were also released in the unenclosed Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine and Belarus . People evacuated

2921-589: A precocial species, and foals are capable of standing and running within a short time following birth. Foals are usually born in the spring. The estrous cycle of a mare occurs roughly every 19–22 days and occurs from early spring into autumn. Most mares enter an anestrus period during the winter and thus do not cycle in this period. Foals are generally weaned from their mothers between four and six months of age. Horses, particularly colts, are sometimes physically capable of reproduction at about 18 months, but domesticated horses are rarely allowed to breed before

3048-477: A predominantly white hair coat and pink skin, a fairly rare occurrence. Different and unrelated genetic factors can produce white coat colors in horses, including several different alleles of dominant white and the sabino-1 gene . However, there are no " albino " horses, defined as having both pink skin and red eyes. Gestation lasts approximately 340 days, with an average range 320–370 days, and usually results in one foal ; twins are rare. Horses are

3175-433: A program of exchange between captive populations in zoos worldwide to reduce inbreeding and later began its own breeding program. As a result of such efforts, the extant herd has retained a far greater genetic diversity than its genetic bottleneck made likely. By 1979, when this concerted program of population management to maximize genetic diversity was begun, there were almost four hundred horses in sixteen facilities,

3302-474: A program to reintroduce Przewalski's horses that were bred in France into Mongolia. Instrumental to that 2004 reintroduction was Claudia Feh , a Swiss equine specialist and conservation biologist, Feh led an effort to bring together animals that zoos had conserved to create a breeding population in southern France. Then, after it was established, three family groups were relocated to Khovd in western Mongolia. At

3429-656: A site on the northern edge of the Gobi Desert , Feh worked in cooperation with local people to ensure the horses survived and flourished. For this work, Feh received a Rolex Award in 2004. In 2004 and 2005, 22 horses were released by the Association Takh to a third reintroduction site in the buffer zone of the Khar Us Nuur National Park , in the northern edge of the Gobi ecoregion. In

3556-448: A typical Przewalski's horse environment, including: Elymus repens , Carex spp., Fabaceae , and Asteraceae . Looking at the species' diet overall, Przewalski's horses most often eat E. repens , Trifolium pratense , Vicia cracca , Poa trivialis , Dactylis glomerata , and Bromus inermis . While the horses eat a variety of different plant species, they tend to favor different species at different times of year. In

3683-417: A variety of the domesticated horse ( E. caballus ). Przewalski's horse is stockily built, smaller, and shorter than its domesticated relatives. Typical height is about 12–14  hands (48–56 inches, 122–142 cm), and the average weight is around 300 kg (660 lb). They have a dun coat with pangaré features and often have dark primitive markings . Przewalski's horse

3810-1290: Is about 100 km from the capital city of Ulaanbaatar to the west. In 2002, the Man and the Biosphere Reserves organization of UNESCO certified the HNP as a member of the world biosphere network of natural reserves. The HNPT was enrolled as a member of IUCN in 2007. The park is home to 459 species of vascular plants , 85 species of lichens , 90 species of moss and 33 species of mushrooms . Some 44 species of mammals have been recorded, including Altai wapiti , Mongolian gazelle , roe deer , wild boar , wild sheep , ibex , Mongolian marmots , grey wolf , Eurasian lynx , Pallas's cat , red fox , corsac fox and Eurasian badger . The park has been designated an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International ; its 217 bird species of birds include golden eagle , lammergeier , great bustard , whooper swan , black stork , Daurian partridge and little owl . There are 16 species of fish , two species of amphibians , and 385 species of insects (including 21 species of ants , 55 species of butterflies , 10 species of bush crickets and 29 species of grasshoppers ). A new species of soil insect has been found in

3937-449: Is about 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in). It weighs around 300 kilograms (660 lb). The coat is generally dun in color with pangaré features, varying from dark brown around the mane, to pale brown on the flanks, and yellowish-white on the belly, as well as around the muzzle. The legs of Przewalski's horse are often faintly striped, also typical of primitive markings . The mane stands erect and does not extend as far forward, while

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4064-505: Is adequate healthy food. All horses move naturally with four basic gaits : Besides these basic gaits, some horses perform a two-beat pace , instead of the trot. There also are several four-beat ' ambling ' gaits that are approximately the speed of a trot or pace, though smoother to ride. These include the lateral rack , running walk , and tölt as well as the diagonal fox trot . Ambling gaits are often genetic in some breeds, known collectively as gaited horses . These horses replace

4191-407: Is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors , markings , breeds , locomotion , and behavior. Horses are adapted to run , allowing them to quickly escape predators, and possess a good sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight response . Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild

4318-1018: Is an unusual trait: horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down, with younger horses tending to sleep significantly more than adults. Female horses, called mares , carry their young for approximately 11 months and a young horse, called a foal , can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under a saddle or in a harness between the ages of two and four. They reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years. Horse breeds are loosely divided into three categories based on general temperament: spirited "hot bloods" with speed and endurance; "cold bloods", such as draft horses and some ponies , suitable for slow, heavy work; and " warmbloods ", developed from crosses between hot bloods and cold bloods, often focusing on creating breeds for specific riding purposes, particularly in Europe. There are more than 300 breeds of horse in

4445-655: Is being established in the Iberian System in Spain, the first free-roaming Przewalski’s horses in Western Europe. In 2024, a Colorado rancher discovered what appears to be a critically endangered Przewalski's horse at a Kansas livestock auction, mistakenly identified as a mule. Another similar horse was found at a Utah sanctuary. Genetic tests suggest both are Przewalski's horses, raising concerns about how they ended up in U.S. auctions. The owners care for

4572-416: Is in the nostrils and nasal cavity, which analyze a wide range of odors. The second, located under the nasal cavity, are the vomeronasal organs , also called Jacobson's organs. These have a separate nerve pathway to the brain and appear to primarily analyze pheromones . A horse's hearing is good, and the pinna of each ear can rotate up to 180°, giving the potential for 360° hearing without having to move

4699-410: Is measured at the highest point of the withers , where the neck meets the back . This point is used because it is a stable point of the anatomy, unlike the head or neck, which move up and down in relation to the body of the horse. In English-speaking countries, the height of horses is often stated in units of hands and inches: one hand is equal to 4 inches (101.6 mm). The height is expressed as

4826-417: Is one of the largest of any land mammal. Horses are lateral-eyed, meaning that their eyes are positioned on the sides of their heads. This means that horses have a range of vision of more than 350°, with approximately 65° of this being binocular vision and the remaining 285° monocular vision . Horses have excellent day and night vision , but they have two-color, or dichromatic vision ; their color vision

4953-411: Is seen in modern domestic horses, indicating neither is an ancestor of the other. For example, Przewalski's horse has 33 chromosome pairs, compared to 32 for the domestic horse. Their ancestral lineages split from a common ancestor between 160,000 and 38,000 years ago, long before the domestication of the horse . Przewalski's horse was long considered the only remaining truly wild horse, in contrast with

5080-426: Is somewhat like red-green color blindness in humans, where certain colors, especially red and related colors, appear as a shade of green. Their sense of smell , while much better than that of humans, is not quite as good as that of a dog. It is believed to play a key role in the social interactions of horses as well as detecting other key scents in the environment. Horses have two olfactory centers. The first system

5207-467: Is summed up by the traditional adage, "no foot, no horse". The horse hoof begins with the distal phalanges , the equivalent of the human fingertip or tip of the toe, surrounded by cartilage and other specialized, blood-rich soft tissues such as the laminae . The exterior hoof wall and horn of the sole is made of keratin , the same material as a human fingernail . The result is that a horse, weighing on average 500 kilograms (1,100 lb), travels on

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5334-617: Is usually considered to be a horse and one less than 14.2 hands (58 inches, 147 cm) a pony, but there are many exceptions to the traditional standard. In Australia, ponies are considered to be those under 14 hands (56 inches, 142 cm). For competition in the Western division of the United States Equestrian Federation , the cutoff is 14.1 hands (57 inches, 145 cm). The International Federation for Equestrian Sports ,

5461-520: Is well-developed. The most sensitive areas are around the eyes, ears, and nose. Horses are able to sense contact as subtle as an insect landing anywhere on the body. Horses have an advanced sense of taste, which allows them to sort through fodder and choose what they would most like to eat, and their prehensile lips can easily sort even small grains. Horses generally will not eat poisonous plants, however, there are exceptions; horses will occasionally eat toxic amounts of poisonous plants even when there

5588-461: The Gobi Desert . It has been suggested that this was not their natural habitat, but, like the onager, they were a steppe animal driven to this barren last refuge by the dual pressures of hunting and habitat loss to agricultural grazing. There were two distinct populations recognized by local Mongolians, a lighter steppe variety and a darker mountain one. This distinction is seen in early twentieth-century descriptions. Their mountainous habitat included

5715-573: The Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area continued. as of 2011 , an estimated total of almost 400 horses existed in three free-ranging populations in the wild. Prague Zoo has transported horses to Mongolia in several rounds in cooperation with partners (Czech Air Force, European Breeding Programme for Przewalski's Horses, Association pour le cheval de Przewalski: Takh, Czech Development Agency, Czech Embassy in Mongolia, and others). The zoo has

5842-487: The Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area . The ranges of harems are separated, but slightly overlapping. They have few modern predators, but one of the few is the Himalayan wolf . Horses maintain visual contact with their family and herd at all times, and have a host of ways to communicate with one another, including vocalizations, scent marking , and a wide range of visual and tactile signals. Each kick, groom, tilt of

5969-488: The Morgan horse . Horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down. In an adaptation from life in the wild, horses are able to enter light sleep by using a " stay apparatus " in their legs, allowing them to doze without collapsing. Horses sleep better when in groups because some animals will sleep while others stand guard to watch for predators. A horse kept alone will not sleep well because its instincts are to keep

6096-616: The Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg . This was supplemented in 1894 when the brothers Grum-Grzhimailo returned several hides and skulls to St. Petersburg and described the horse's behavior in the wild. A number of these horses were captured around 1900 by Carl Hagenbeck and placed in zoos, and these, along with one later captive, reproduced to give rise to today's population. After 1903, there were no reports of

6223-681: The Takhiin Shar Nuruu (The Yellow Wild-Horse Mountain Range). In their last decades in the wild, the remnant population was limited to the small region between the Takhiin Shar Nuruu and Bajtag-Bogdo mountain ridges. Attempts to obtain specimens for exhibit and captive breeding were largely unsuccessful until 1902, when 28 captured foals were brought to Europe. These and a small number of additional captives would be distributed among zoos and breeding centers in Europe and

6350-477: The Trakehner or Hanoverian , developed when European carriage and war horses were crossed with Arabians or Thoroughbreds, producing a riding horse with more refinement than a draft horse, but greater size and milder temperament than a lighter breed. Certain pony breeds with warmblood characteristics have been developed for smaller riders. Warmbloods are considered a "light horse" or "riding horse". Today,

6477-406: The cannon bones (a single equivalent to the human metacarpal or metatarsal bones ) and the proximal phalanges , located where one finds the "knuckles" of a human. A horse also has no muscles in its legs below the knees and hocks, only skin, hair, bone, tendons , ligaments , cartilage , and the assorted specialized tissues that make up the hoof . The critical importance of the feet and legs

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6604-466: The gene controlled by the Melanocortin 1 receptor , also known as the "extension gene" or "red factor". Its recessive form is "red" (chestnut) and its dominant form is black. Additional genes control suppression of black color to point coloration that results in a bay , spotting patterns such as pinto or leopard , dilution genes such as palomino or dun , as well as greying , and all

6731-894: The takhi ( Mongolian : Тахь ), Mongolian wild horse or Dzungarian horse , is a rare and endangered horse originally native to the steppes of Central Asia . It is named after the Russian geographer and explorer Nikolay Przhevalsky . Once extinct in the wild , since the 1990s it has been reintroduced to its native habitat in Mongolia in the Khustain Nuruu National Park , Takhin Tal Nature Reserve, and Khomiin Tal, as well as several other locales in Central Asia and Eastern Europe . Several genetic characteristics of Przewalski's horse differ from what

6858-594: The "cold-bloods", such as most draft breeds , are quieter and calmer. Sometimes "hot-bloods" are classified as "light horses" or "riding horses", with the "cold-bloods" classified as "draft horses" or "work horses". "Hot blooded" breeds include " oriental horses " such as the Akhal-Teke , Arabian horse , Barb , and now-extinct Turkoman horse , as well as the Thoroughbred , a breed developed in England from

6985-440: The 1980s had already substantially increased the genetic diversity of the captive population after he was discovered to have more unique alleles than any other horse living at the time, including otherwise lost genetic material from two of the original captive founders. To produce the clone, frozen skin fibroblasts were thawed, and grown in cell culture . An oocyte was collected from a domestic horse, and its nucleus replaced by

7112-536: The American mustang and the Australian brumby , which are instead feral horses descended from domesticated animals. That status was called into question when domestic horses of the 5,000-year-old Botai culture of Central Asia were found to be more closely related to Przewalski's horses than to E. f. caballus . The study raised the possibility that modern Przewalski's horses could be the feral descendants of

7239-755: The Hustai and given the scientific name of Epidamaeus khustaiensis . Hustai National Park was the first park to be managed by a Non-governmental Organization specializing in nature and environmental conservation. The park was managed by the Mongolian Association for the Conservation of Nature and the Environment during 1993–2003. A dedicated NGO , the Hustai National Park Trust (HNPT), was established in 2003 and signed

7366-640: The Southern Hemisphere. The exception is in endurance riding , where the minimum age to compete is based on the animal's actual calendar age. The following terminology is used to describe horses of various ages: In horse racing , these definitions may differ: For example, in the British Isles, Thoroughbred horse racing defines colts and fillies as less than five years old. However, Australian Thoroughbred racing defines colts and fillies as less than four years old. The height of horses

7493-475: The United States. Many facilities failed in their attempts at captive breeding, but a few programs were established. However, by the mid-1930s, inbreeding had caused reduced fertility, and the captive population experienced a genetic bottleneck , with the surviving captive breeding stock descended from only 11 of the founder captives. In addition, in at least one instance, the progeny of interbreeding with

7620-409: The age of five. Stallions assemble groups of mares or challenge the leader of another group for dominance. Females are able to give birth at the age of three and have a gestation period of 11–12 months. Foals are able to stand about an hour after birth. The rate of infant mortality among foals is 25%, with 83.3% of these deaths resulting from leading stallion infanticide. Foals begin grazing within

7747-456: The age of three, especially females. Horses four years old are considered mature, although the skeleton normally continues to develop until the age of six; maturation also depends on the horse's size, breed, sex, and quality of care. Larger horses have larger bones; therefore, not only do the bones take longer to form bone tissue , but the epiphyseal plates are larger and take longer to convert from cartilage to bone. These plates convert after

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7874-457: The ancient Botai domesticated animals, rather than representing a surviving population of never-domesticated horses. Another geneticist pointed out that Przewalski's horses may have simply descended from the same wild population that the Botai horses came from, which would still be compatible with the findings of the study. In 2021, William Taylor and Christina Barron-Ortiz disputed the evidence for domestication of Przewalski's horse. Their case

8001-595: The animal was changed from "extinct in the wild" to " endangered " in 2005, while on the IUCN Red List they were reclassified from "extinct in the wild" to " critically endangered ", after a reassessment in 2008, and from "critically endangered" to "endangered" after a 2011 reassessment. In 2011, Prague Zoo started a new project, Return of the Wild Horses . With the support of public and many strategic partners, yearly transports of captive-bred horses into

8128-688: The animals but hope they can eventually join professional conservation programs. The Przewalski's Horse Reintroduction Project of China was initiated in 1985 when 11 wild horses were imported from overseas. After more than two decades of effort, the Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding Centre has bred a large number of horses, 55 of which were released into the Kalamely Mountain area. The animals quickly adapted to their new environment. In 1988, six foals were born and survived, and by 2001, over 100 horses were at

8255-747: The calm, patient temperament needed to pull a plow or a heavy carriage full of people. They are sometimes nicknamed "gentle giants". Well-known draft breeds include the Belgian and the Clydesdale . Some, like the Percheron , are lighter and livelier, developed to pull carriages or to plow large fields in drier climates. Others, such as the Shire , are slower and more powerful, bred to plow fields with heavy, clay-based soils. The cold-blooded group also includes some pony breeds. " Warmblood " breeds, such as

8382-545: The centre. As of 2013 , the center hosted 127 horses divided into 13 breeding herds and three bachelor herds. Reintroductions organized by Western European countries started in the 1990s. Several populations have now been released into the wild. A cooperative venture between the Zoological Society of London and Mongolian scientists has successfully reintroduced these horses from zoos into their natural habitat in Mongolia. In 1992, 16 horses were released into

8509-472: The chromosomes of domestic and Przewalski's horses, while there was much lower hetero zygosity in Przewalski's horses, with extensive segments devoid of genetic diversity, a consequence of the recent severe bottleneck of the captive Przewalski's horse population. In comparison, the chromosomal differences between domestic horses and zebras include numerous large-scale translocations , fusions, inversions, and centromere repositioning. Przewalski's horse has

8636-469: The day. Therefore, compared to humans, they have a relatively small stomach but very long intestines to facilitate a steady flow of nutrients. A 450-kilogram (990 lb) horse will eat 7 to 11 kilograms (15 to 24 lb) of food per day and, under normal use, drink 38 to 45 litres (8.4 to 9.9 imp gal; 10 to 12 US gal) of water . Horses are not ruminants , having only one stomach, like humans. But unlike humans, they can digest cellulose ,

8763-406: The decline in Przewalski's horse population. The wild population was already rare at its first scientific characterization. Przewalski reported seeing them only from a distance and may have instead sighted herds of local onager Mongolian wild asses. He was only able to obtain specimens of the type from Kirghiz hunters. The range of Przewalski's horse was limited to the arid Dzungarian Basin in

8890-400: The domestic Botai horses. However, it remains possible that both the Botai horses and the modern Przewalski's horses descend separately from the same ancient wild Przewalski's horse population. Its taxonomic position is still debated, with some taxonomists treating Przewalski's horse as a species , E. przewalskii , others as a subspecies of wild horse ( E. ferus przewalskii ) or

9017-529: The ear, or other contact with another horse is a means of communicating. This constant communication leads to complex social behaviors among Przewalski's horses. The historical population was said to have lived in the "wildest parts of the desert" with a preference for "especially saline districts". They were observed mostly during spring and summer at natural wells, migrating to them by crossing valleys rather than by way of higher mountains. Przewalski horse's diet consists of vegetation. Many plant species are in

9144-488: The earlier decades of captivity, the insular breeding by individual zoos led to inbreeding and reduced fertility. In 1979, several American zoos began a collaborative breeding-exchange program to maximize genetic diversity. Recent advances in equine reproductive science have also been used to preserve and expand the gene pool. Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution 's National Zoo successfully reversed

9271-513: The end of the 1950s, only 12 individual horses were left in the world's zoos. A wild-caught mare captured as a foal a decade earlier was introduced into the Ukrainian captive population in 1957. This would prove the last wild-caught horse, and with the presumed extinction of the wild population, last sighted in Mongolia in the late 1960s, the captive population became the sole representatives of Przewalski's horse. Genetic diversity received

9398-406: The extinct tarpan E. f. ferus ); or even a subpopulation of the domestic horse. The American Society of Mammalogists considers Przewalski's horse and the tarpan both to be subspecies of Equus ferus , and classifies the domestic horse as a separate species, Equus caballus . Genetic analysis shows that the takhi and the domestic horse differ significantly, with neither ancestral to

9525-451: The family group until they are no longer dependent, usually at two or three years old. Young females join other harems, while bachelor stallions as well as old stallions who have lost their harems join bachelor groups. Family groups can join to form a herd that moves together. The patterns of their daily lives exhibit horse behavior similar to that of feral horse herds. Stallions herd, drive, and defend all members of their family, while

9652-525: The fifteenth century, Johann Schiltberger recorded one of the first European sightings of the horses in the journal recounting his trip to Mongolia as a prisoner of the Mongol Khan . Another was recorded as a gift to the Manchurian emperor around 1630, its value as a gift suggesting a difficulty in obtaining them. John Bell , a Scottish doctor in service to Peter the Great from 1719 to 1722, observed

9779-625: The fifth to the third millennia BCE, found in Central Asia, with a range extending to the southern Urals and the Altai , belong to the genetic lineage of Przewalski's horse. Of particular note are the horses of this lineage found in the archaeological sites of the Chalcolithic Botai culture. Sites dating from the mid-fourth-millennium BCE show evidence of horse domestication. Analysis of ancient DNA from Botai horse specimens from about 3000 BCE reveals them to have DNA markers consistent with

9906-429: The free expression of natural Przewalski's horse behaviors. In 1993, eleven zoo-born horses were brought to Le Villaret. Horses born there are adapted to life in the wild, free to choose their mates, and required to forage independently. This was intended to produce individuals capable of being reintroduced into Mongolia. In 2012, 39 individuals were at Le Villaret. An intensely researched population of free-ranging animals

10033-401: The front of the mouth, adapted to biting off the grass or other vegetation. There are 24 teeth adapted for chewing, the premolars and molars , at the back of the mouth. Stallions and geldings have four additional teeth just behind the incisors, a type of canine teeth called "tushes". Some horses, both male and female, will also develop one to four very small vestigial teeth in front of

10160-507: The head. Noise affects the behavior of horses and certain kinds of noise may contribute to stress—a 2013 study in the UK indicated that stabled horses were calmest in a quiet setting, or if listening to country or classical music, but displayed signs of nervousness when listening to jazz or rock music. This study also recommended keeping music under a volume of 21 decibels . An Australian study found that stabled racehorses listening to talk radio had

10287-631: The help of the San Diego Zoo Global Frozen Zoo. It is the first reported case of any endangered species having more than one clone successfully produced. This individual eventually joins Kurt and Holly at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Due to having been conceived through the transfer of a somatic cell nucleus into an egg cell obtained from a domestic horse donor, Kurt and Ollie both display the mithocondrial genome of domestic horses instead of belonging to

10414-549: The highest diploid chromosome number among all equine species. They can interbreed with the domestic horse and produce fertile offspring, with 65 chromosomes. The mitochondrial genome has 37 genes that are 99.63% identical to that of the domestic horse. Przewalski reported the horses forming troops of between five and fifteen members, consisting of a mature stallion, his mares and foals. Modern reintroduced populations similarly form family groups of one adult stallion, one to three mares, and their common offspring that stay in

10541-515: The horses failed to survive World War II. The most valuable group, in Askania Nova , Ukraine , was shot by German soldiers during World War II occupation, and the group in the United States had died out. Only two captive populations in zoos remained, in Munich and in Prague , and of the 31 remaining horses at war's end, only 9 became ancestors of the subsequent captive population. By

10668-517: The horses were released into the reserve proper in September. This introduction was intended to address the buildup of dense scrub caused by the decrease in traditional sheep grazing due to rural depopulation. The horses are intended to fill a niche similar to that of the extinct European wild horse and of contemporary domesticated herbivores by opening the landscape through low-intensity grazing and browsing, thereby enhancing biodiversity and lowering

10795-422: The ice and snow. Their winter diet is very similar to the winter diet of domestic horses, but differs from that revealed by isotope analysis of the historical (pre-captivity) population, which switched in winter to browsing shrubs, though the difference may be due to the extreme habitat pressure the historical population was under. In the wintertime, they eat their food more slowly than they do during other times of

10922-437: The incisors show changes as the horse ages; they develop a distinct wear pattern, changes in tooth shape, and changes in the angle at which the chewing surfaces meet. This allows a very rough estimate of a horse's age, although diet and veterinary care can also affect the rate of tooth wear. Horses are herbivores with a digestive system adapted to a forage diet of grasses and other plant material, consumed steadily throughout

11049-406: The large, single-toed animal of today. Humans began domesticating horses around 4000 BCE , and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BCE. Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses . These feral populations are not true wild horses , which are horses that never have been domesticated. There

11176-421: The last observation of the wild horse in its native habitat was of a single stallion in 1969. Expeditions after this failed to locate any horses, and the species would be designated "extinct in the wild" for over 30 years. Competition with livestock, hunting, capture of foals for zoological collections, military activities, and harsh winters recorded in 1945, 1948, and 1956 are considered to be main causes of

11303-416: The latter was independent, involving a different wild population, from any possible domestication of Przewalski's horse by the Botai culture. Przewalski's horse is stockily built in comparison to domesticated horses, with shorter legs, and is much smaller and shorter than its domesticated relatives. Typical height is about 12–14  hands (48–56 inches, 122–142 cm), and length

11430-452: The lineage of modern Przewalski's horses. There are sporadic reports of Przewalski's horse in the historical record before its formal characterization. The Buddhist monk Bodowa wrote a description of what is thought to have been Przewalski's horse about AD 900, and an account from 1226 reports an incident involving wild horses during Genghis Khan 's campaign against the Tangut empire . In

11557-606: The longest uninterrupted history of breeding Przewalski's horses in the world and keeps the studbook of this species. The first reintroduction into the Orenburg region on the Russian steppe occurred in 2016. In May 2023, a herd of ten Przewalski's horses obtained from Monts D'Azur Biological Reserve in France was introduced by Rewilding Europe to the Iberian Highlands rewilding landscape in Spain, near Villanueva de Alcorón . Following an acclimatization period,

11684-511: The mares often display leadership in the family. Stallions and mares stay with their preferred partners for years. While behavioral synchronization is high among mares, stallions other than the main harem stallion are generally less stable in this respect. Home range in the wild is little studied, but estimated as 1.2–24 km (0.46–9.3 sq mi) in the Hustai National Park and 150–825 km (58–319 sq mi) in

11811-435: The molars, known as "wolf" teeth, which are generally removed because they can interfere with the bit . There is an empty interdental space between the incisors and the molars where the bit rests directly on the gums, or "bars" of the horse's mouth when the horse is bridled . An estimate of a horse's age can be made from looking at its teeth. The teeth continue to erupt throughout life and are worn down by grazing. Therefore,

11938-1030: The number of full hands, followed by a point , then the number of additional inches, and ending with the abbreviation "h" or "hh" (for "hands high"). Thus, a horse described as "15.2 h" is 15 hands plus 2 inches, for a total of 62 inches (157.5 cm) in height. The size of horses varies by breed, but also is influenced by nutrition . Light-riding horses usually range in height from 14 to 16 hands (56 to 64 inches, 142 to 163 cm) and can weigh from 380 to 550 kilograms (840 to 1,210 lb). Larger-riding horses usually start at about 15.2 hands (62 inches, 157 cm) and often are as tall as 17 hands (68 inches, 173 cm), weighing from 500 to 600 kilograms (1,100 to 1,320 lb). Heavy or draft horses are usually at least 16 hands (64 inches, 163 cm) high and can be as tall as 18 hands (72 inches, 183 cm) high. They can weigh from about 700 to 1,000 kilograms (1,540 to 2,200 lb). The largest horse in recorded history

12065-555: The older oriental breeds. Hot bloods tend to be spirited, bold, and learn quickly. They are bred for agility and speed. They tend to be physically refined—thin-skinned, slim, and long-legged. The original oriental breeds were brought to Europe from the Middle East and North Africa when European breeders wished to infuse these traits into racing and light cavalry horses. Muscular, heavy draft horses are known as "cold bloods." They are bred not only for strength, but also to have

12192-435: The other factors that create the many possible coat colors found in horses. Horses that have a white coat color are often mislabeled; a horse that looks "white" is usually a middle-aged or older gray . Grays are born a darker shade, get lighter as they age, but usually keep black skin underneath their white hair coat (with the exception of pink skin under white markings ). The only horses properly called white are born with

12319-605: The other parts of the bones, and are crucial to development. Depending on maturity, breed, and work expected, horses are usually put under saddle and trained to be ridden between the ages of two and four. Although Thoroughbred race horses are put on the track as young as the age of two in some countries, horses specifically bred for sports such as dressage are generally not put under saddle until they are three or four years old, because their bones and muscles are not solidly developed. For endurance riding competition, horses are not deemed mature enough to compete until they are

12446-420: The other. The evolutionary divergence of the two populations was estimated to have occurred about 72,000–38,000 years ago, well before domestication, most likely due to climate, topography, or other environmental changes. According to a 2009 study, the earliest known domestic horses were found at settlements of the Botai culture, from about 5500 years ago. These horses were raised for meat and milk. In 2018,

12573-570: The quantity involved is less than four. Domesticated horses may face greater mental challenges than wild horses, because they live in artificial environments that prevent instinctive behavior whilst also learning tasks that are not natural. Horses are animals of habit that respond well to regimentation, and respond best when the same routines and techniques are used consistently. One trainer believes that "intelligent" horses are reflections of intelligent trainers who effectively use response conditioning techniques and positive reinforcement to train in

12700-481: The risk of forest fires . Future introductions are planned. In June 2024 six mares and a stallion were reintroduced to Kazakhstan from zoos in Europe, ten years after plans were announced to do so. The operation was organised by Prague Zoo , which selected horses from various programs in Europe, which were housed at Tierpark Berlin for some months before being transported to Kazakhstan in Czech army planes. In

12827-496: The same animals as horses. The distinction between a horse and pony is commonly drawn on the basis of height, especially for competition purposes. However, height alone is not dispositive; the difference between horses and ponies may also include aspects of phenotype , including conformation and temperament. The traditional standard for height of a horse or a pony at maturity is 14.2 hands (58 inches, 147 cm). An animal 14.2 hands (58 inches, 147 cm) or over

12954-507: The same bones as would a human on tiptoe. For the protection of the hoof under certain conditions, some horses have horseshoes placed on their feet by a professional farrier . The hoof continually grows, and in most domesticated horses needs to be trimmed (and horseshoes reset, if used) every five to eight weeks, though the hooves of horses in the wild wear down and regrow at a rate suitable for their terrain. Horses are adapted to grazing . In an adult horse, there are 12  incisors at

13081-472: The same color may be distinguished from one another by white markings , which, along with various spotting patterns, are inherited separately from coat color. Many genes that create horse coat colors and patterns have been identified. Current genetic tests can identify at least 13 different alleles influencing coat color, and research continues to discover new genes linked to specific traits. The basic coat colors of chestnut and black are determined by

13208-487: The skull and hide of an animal shot in 1878 in the Gobi near today's China–Mongolia border. He would travel to the Dzungarian Basin to observe it in the wild. In 1881, the horse received a formal scientific description and was named Equus przevalskii by Ivan Semyonovich Polyakov, based on Przewalski's collection and description, while in 1884, the sole exemplar of the horse in Europe was a preserved specimen in

13335-473: The social and communication behaviors of wild Przewalski's horses. On reaching maturity at three to four years of age, Kurt is intended to become the breeder stallion for the San Diego Zoo herd to pass Kuporovic's genes into the larger captive Przewalski's horse population and thereby increase the genetic variation of the species. In 2023, a genetic twin of Kurt, named Ollie, was born from cloning with

13462-531: The springtime, they favor Elymus repens , Corynephorus canescens , Festuca valesiaca , and Chenopodium album . In early summer, they favor Dactylis glomerata and Trifolium , and in late summer, they gravitate towards E. repens and Vicia cracca . In winter the horses eat Salix spp., Pyrus communis , Malus sylvatica , Pinus sylvestris , Rosa spp., and Alnus spp. Additionally, Przewalski's horses may dig for Festuca spp., Bromus inermis , and E. repens that grow beneath

13589-470: The style that best fits with an individual animal's natural inclinations. Horses are mammals . As such, they are warm-blooded , or endothermic creatures, as opposed to cold-blooded, or poikilothermic animals. However, these words have developed a separate meaning in the context of equine terminology, used to describe temperament, not body temperature . For example, the " hot-bloods ", such as many race horses , exhibit more sensitivity and energy, while

13716-442: The tail is about 90 cm (35 in) long, with a longer dock and shorter hair than seen in domesticated horses. The hooves of Przewalski's horse are longer in the front and have significantly thicker sole horns than feral horses, an adaptation that improves hoof performance on terrain. The karyotype of Przewalski's horse differs from that of the domestic horse, having 33 chromosome pairs versus 32, apparently due to

13843-558: The term "Warmblood" refers to a specific subset of sport horse breeds that are used for competition in dressage and show jumping . Strictly speaking, the term " warm blood " refers to any cross between cold-blooded and hot-blooded breeds. Examples include breeds such as the Irish Draught or the Cleveland Bay . The term was once used to refer to breeds of light riding horse other than Thoroughbreds or Arabians, such as

13970-788: The trot with one of the ambling gaits. Horses are prey animals with a strong fight-or-flight response . Their first reaction to a threat is to startle and usually flee, although they will stand their ground and defend themselves when flight is impossible or if their young are threatened. They also tend to be curious; when startled, they will often hesitate an instant to ascertain the cause of their fright, and may not always flee from something that they perceive as non-threatening. Most light horse riding breeds were developed for speed, agility, alertness and endurance; natural qualities that extend from their wild ancestors. However, through selective breeding, some breeds of horses are quite docile, particularly certain draft horses. Horses are herd animals , with

14097-401: The urine of pregnant mares . Humans provide domesticated horses with food, water, and shelter, as well as attention from specialists such as veterinarians and farriers . Depending on breed, management and environment, the modern domestic horse has a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. Uncommonly, a few animals live into their 40s and, occasionally, beyond. The oldest verifiable record

14224-619: The wild in Mongolia, followed by additional animals later. One of the areas to which they were reintroduced became Khustain Nuruu National Park in 1998. Another reintroduction site is Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area , located at the fringes of the Gobi Desert . In 2001, Przewalski's horses were reintroduced into the Kalamaili Nature Reserve in Xinjiang , China. Since 2004, there has been

14351-458: The wild population until 1947, when several isolated groups were observed and a lone filly captured. Although local herdsmen reported seeing as many as 50 to 100 takhis grazing in small groups then, there were only sporadic sightings of single groups of two or three animals after that, mostly near natural wells. Two scientific expeditions in 1955 and 1962 failed to find any. After herders and naturalists reported single harem groups in 1966 and 1967,

14478-459: The winter of 2009–2010, one of the worst dzud or snowy winter conditions ever hit Mongolia. The population of Przewalski's horse in the Great Gobi B SPA was drastically affected, providing clear evidence of the risks associated with reintroducing small and sequestered species in unpredictable and unfamiliar environments. After reintroduced horses had successfully reproduced, the status of

14605-1085: The world governing body for horse sport, uses metric measurements and defines a pony as being any horse measuring less than 148 centimetres (58.27 in) at the withers without shoes, which is just over 14.2 hands (58 inches, 147 cm), and 149 centimetres (58.66 in; 14. 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 hands), with shoes. Height is not the sole criterion for distinguishing horses from ponies. Breed registries for horses that typically produce individuals both under and over 14.2 hands (58 inches, 147 cm) consider all animals of that breed to be horses regardless of their height. Conversely, some pony breeds may have features in common with horses, and individual animals may occasionally mature at over 14.2 hands (58 inches, 147 cm), but are still considered to be ponies. Ponies often exhibit thicker manes, tails, and overall coat. They also have proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier bone, shorter and thicker necks, and short heads with broad foreheads. They may have calmer temperaments than horses and also

14732-569: The world today, developed for many different uses. Horses and humans interact in a wide variety of sport competitions and non-competitive recreational pursuits as well as in working activities such as police work , agriculture , entertainment, and therapy . Horses were historically used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding and driving techniques developed, using many different styles of equipment and methods of control. Many products are derived from horses, including meat , milk , hide , hair , bone, and pharmaceuticals extracted from

14859-473: The year. Przewalski's horses seasonally display a set of changes collectively characteristic of physiologic adaptation to starvation, with their basal metabolic rate in winter being half what it is during springtime. This is not a direct consequence of decreased nutrient intake, but rather a programmed response to predictable seasonal dietary fluctuation. Mating occurs in late spring or early summer. Mating stallions do not start looking for mating partners until

14986-598: The zone after the Chernobyl accident , so now it serves as a deserted de facto nature reserve. Though poaching has taken a toll on numbers, as of 2019 the estimated population in the Chernobyl zone was over 100 individuals. Le Villaret, located in the Cevennes National Park in southern France and run by the Association Takh, is a breeding site for Przewalski's horses that was created to allow

15113-408: Was sequenced in 2007. It contains 2.7 billion DNA base pairs , which is larger than the dog genome , but smaller than the human genome or the bovine genome . The map is available to researchers. Horses exhibit a diverse array of coat colors and distinctive markings , described by a specialized vocabulary. Often, a horse is classified first by its coat color, before breed or sex. Horses of

15240-550: Was " Old Billy ", a 19th-century horse that lived to the age of 62. In modern times, Sugar Puff, who had been listed in Guinness World Records as the world's oldest living pony, died in 2007 at age 56. Regardless of a horse or pony's actual birth date, for most competition purposes a year is added to its age each January 1 of each year in the Northern Hemisphere and each August 1 in

15367-463: Was a Przewalski horse stallion named Kuporovic, born in the UK in 1975 and relocated three years later to the US, where he died in 1998. Due to concerns over the loss of genetic variation in the captive Przewalski's horse population, and in anticipation of the development of new cloning techniques, tissue from the stallion was cryopreserved at the San Diego Zoo's Frozen Zoo . Breeding of this individual in

15494-718: Was also introduced to the Hortobágy National Park puszta in Hungary; data on social structure, behavior, and diseases gathered from these animals are used to improve the Mongolian conservation effort. An additional breeding population of Przewalski's horses roams the former Döberitzer Heide military proving ground , now a nature reserve in Dallgow-Döberitz , Germany. Established in 2008, this population comprised 24 horses in 2019. Another population

15621-469: Was carried out by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), whereby a viable embryo is created by transplanting the DNA -containing nucleus of a somatic cell into an immature egg cell ( oocyte ) that has had its nucleus removed, producing offspring genetically identical to the somatic cell donor. Since the oocyte used was from a domestic horse, this was an example of interspecies SCNT. The somatic cell donor

15748-426: Was formally described as a novel species in 1881 by Ivan Semyonovich Polyakov . The taxonomic position of Przewalski's horse remains controversial, and no consensus exists about whether it is a full species (as Equus przewalskii ); a subspecies of Equus ferus the wild horse (as Equus ferus przewalskii in trinomial nomenclature , along with two other subspecies, the domestic horse E. f. caballus , and

15875-567: Was one of the most genetically valuable Przewalski's horses in the North American breeding program. The first birth by artificial insemination occurred on 27 July 2013 at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute . In 2020, the first cloned Przewalski's horse was born, the result of a collaboration between San Diego Zoo Global , ViaGen Equine and Revive & Restore . The cloning

16002-451: Was probably a Shire horse named Mammoth , who was born in 1848. He stood 21.2 ⁄ 4  hands (86.25 inches, 219 cm) high and his peak weight was estimated at 1,524 kilograms (3,360 lb). The record holder for the smallest horse ever is Thumbelina , a fully mature miniature horse affected by dwarfism . She was 43 centimetres; 4.1 hands (17 in) tall and weighed 26 kg (57 lb). Ponies are taxonomically

16129-473: Was rejected by Alan Outram and colleagues in a paper which was not dated or peer-reviewed. Taylor reiterated his arguments that Przewalski's horse had never been domesticated in an article in Scientific American in 2024. In any case, the Botai horses were found to have negligible genetic contribution to any of the ancient or modern domestic horses studied, indicating that the domestication of

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