Przewalski's horse

Information about Przewalski's horse

Przewalski's Horse

Conservation status
EN [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Perissodactyla
Family:Equidae
Genus:Equus
Subgenus:Equus
Species:E. ferus
Subspecies:E. f. przewalskii
Trinomial name
Equus ferus przewalskii
(Poliakov, 1881)
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Range map

Range map


Przewalski's Horse (Equus ferus przewalskii or Equus caballus przewalskii, classification is debated), pronounced in English as /ʃe'væl.skiː/, also known as the Asian Wild Horse or Mongolian Wild Horse, or Takhi, is the closest living wild relative of the domestic Horse.

Most "wild" horses today, such as the American Mustang or the Australian Brumbies, are actually feral animals, horses that were once domesticated but escaped and reverted to an apparently wild status. The Przewalski's Horse, on the other hand, has never been successfully domesticated and remains a truly wild animal today. There were once several types of equid that had never been successfully domesticated, including the Tarpan, Onager, and others. However, most have become extinct, with the Przewalski's Horse the only remaining truly wild horse in the world.

Taxonomy

Poliakov, who concluded that the animal was a wild horse species, gave it the official name Equus przewalskii (Poliakov 1881). However, authorities differ about the correct classification. Some hold it is a separate species, the last remnant of the wild horse Equus ferus, others hold it is a subspecies of Equus caballus. The question will only be answered with finality if or when the common ancestor from which domestic and Przewalski's horses diverged is determined.[2] Although the Przewalski's horse has 66 chromosomes, compared to 64 in a domestic horse, the Przewalski's horse and the domestic horse are the only equids that cross-breed and produce fertile offspring, possessing 65 chromosomes.[3]

Population

As of a census taken in 2005, the world population of these horses was about 1,500, all descended from 31 horses that were in captivity in 1945, mostly descended from approximately 15 captured around 1900. A cooperative venture between the Zoological Society of London and Mongolian Scientists has resulted in successful reintroduction of these horses from zoos into their natural habitat in Mongolia, and as of 2005 there is a free-ranging population of 248 animals in the wild.[1]

History

In the 15th century, Hans Schiltberger recorded one of the first European sightings of the horses in the journal of his trip to Mongolia as a prisoner of the Mongol Khan.[4] The horse is named after Russian General Nikolai Przhevalsky (1839–1888). (The spelling of the horse breed as "Przewalski" derives from the Polish spelling of the name). He was an explorer and naturalist who described the horse in 1881, after having gone on an expedition to find it, based on rumours of its existence. Many of these horses were captured around 1900 by Carl Hagenbeck and placed in zoos. As noted above, about twelve to fifteen reproduced and formed today's population.
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Przewalski's Horse at the Parc du Thot, France
The native population declined in the 20th century due to a combination of factors, with the wild population in Mongolia dying out in the 1960s. The last herd was sighted in 1967 and the last individual horse in 1969. Expeditions after this failed to locate any horses, and the species was designated "extinct in the wild" for over 30 years.

After 1945 only two captive populations in zoos remained: in Munich and in Prague Zoo. The most valuable group in Askania Nova was shot down by German soldiers during occupation and the group in the USA had died.

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A herd of Przewalski's Horses at Khustain Nuruu National Park, Mongolia
In 1977, the Foundation for the Preservation and Protection of the Przewalski Horse was founded by Jan and Inge Bouman, which started a program of exchange between captive populations in zoos throughout the world to reduce inbreeding, and later starting a breeding program of its own. In 1992, sixteen horses were released into the wild in Mongolia, followed by additional animals later on. These reintroduced horses successfully reproduced, and the status of the animal was changed from "extinct in the wild" to "endangered" in 2005.[1] However, they are classified as "extinct in the wild" by the IUCN Red List, as they have not been reassessed since 1996. [5]

The area to which they were reintroduced became Khustain Nuruu National Park in 1998.

Other Reserves for the Przewalski's Horse

The world's largest captive breeding program for Przewalski's horses is at the Askania Nova preserve in Ukraine. Several dozen Przewalski's horses were also released in the area evacuated after the Chernobyl accident, which now serves as a deserted de facto natural preserve.[6] An intensely researched population of free-ranging animals was introduced to the Hortobágy puszta in Hungary; data on social structure, behavior, diseases etc gathered from these animals is used to improve the Mongolian conservation effort.

A small population of Przewalski's horses exists in Monarto Zoological Park in Murray Bridge, South Australia.
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Przewalski's Horses at Toronto Zoo


Three of these horses now graze in a 12 acre (5 hectare) paddock in the Clocaenog Forest in North Wales, UK, on the site of a former Neolithic or Iron Age settlement. They were introduced there in 2004. The Forestry Commission hopes they will help recreate scenes from the Iron Age when these horses roamed Britain freely.[7]

Another small population exists at The Wilds Wildlife Preserve in Cumberland, Ohio, USA. The small herd of about 17 individuals can be seen in a large area shared with other Asian animals at reclaimed coal mining site.[1]

Appearance

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Przewalski's Horses
Przewalski's Horse is stockily built in comparison to domesticated horses, with shorter legs. Typical height is about 13 hands (1.32 m), length is about 2.1 m with a 90 cm tail. They weigh around 350 kg. The coat is similar to Dun coloration in domestic horses. It varies from dark brown around the mane (which stands erect) to pale brown on the flanks and yellowish-white on the belly. The legs of the Przewalski's Horse are often faintly striped. [8]

Behaviour

Main article: Horse behavior
In the wild, Przewalski's Horses live in social groups consisting of a dominant stallion, a dominant lead mare, other mares, and their offspring. The patterns of their daily lives exhibit horse behavior similar to that of feral horse herds: Each group has a well-defined home range; within the range, the herd travels between three and six miles a day, spending time grazing, drinking, using salt licks and dozing. At night, the herd clusters and sleeps for about four hours. Ranges of different herds may overlap without conflict, as the stallions are more protective of their mares than their territory.

Stallions practice a form of scent marking and will establish piles of dung at intervals along routes they normally travel to warn other males of their presence. In addition, when a female in the herd urinates, the stallion will frequently urinate in the same place, to signal her membership in the herd to other males. The stallions can frequently be seen sniffing dung piles to confirm scent markings.

References

1. ^ "An extraordinary return from the brink of extinction for worlds last wild horse" ZSL Living Conservation, December 19, 2005.
2. ^ "Przewalski's Horse," Smithsonian National Zoological Park, accessed June 25, 2006
3. ^ The American Museum of Natural History When Is a Wild Horse Actually a Feral Horse?
4. ^ Breeds of Livestock - Przewalski Horse
5. ^ [2]
6. ^ Mulvey, Stephen. "Wildlife defies Chernobyl radiation", BBC News, BBC, 2006-04-20. Retrieved on 2007-10-03. 
7. ^ Forestry Commission. 2004. FC Wales turns clock back thousands of years with 'wild' solution to looking after ancient forest site. News release, No: 7001, 16 September 2004. [3]
8. ^ National Zoo information on Przewalski's Horse

See also

External links

conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing the conservation status of a species: not simply the number remaining, but the
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Mammalia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses & Infraclasses
  • Subclass †Allotheria*
  • Subclass Prototheria
  • Subclass Theria

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Perissodactyla
Owen, 1848

Families

Equidae
Tapiridae
Rhinocerotidae
Brontotheriidae (extinct)
Chalicotheriidae (extinct)
Hyracodontidae (extinct)
Palaeotheriidae (extinct)
Amynodontidae (extinct)

The odd-toed ungulates
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Equidae
Gray, 1821

Genus: Equus
Linnaeus, 1758

Species

E. asinus - Donkey
E. africanus - African Wild Ass
E. caballus - Domestic Horse
E.
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Equidae
Gray, 1821

Genus: Equus
Linnaeus, 1758

Species

E. asinus - Donkey
E. africanus - African Wild Ass
E. caballus - Domestic Horse
E.
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In biology, trinomial nomenclature refers to names for taxa below the rank of species. This is different for animals and plants:
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  • for plants see ternary name.

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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1850s  1860s  1870s  - 1880s -  1890s  1900s  1910s
1878 1879 1880 - 1881 - 1882 1883 1884

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Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
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English}}} 
Writing system: Latin (English variant) 
Official status
Official language of: 53 countries
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ISO 639-2: eng
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Mustang is a free-roaming feral horse of the North American west. It first descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish.[1] The name "Mustang" is also popular for high-performance products and sports mascots.
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A brumby is a free-roaming feral horse in Australia. Although they are found in many areas around the country, the most well-known brumbies are found in the Australian Alps region in south-eastern Australia.
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feral organism is one that has escaped from domestication and returned, partly or wholly, to its wild state. Rarely will a local environment perfectly integrate the feral organism into its established ecology.
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Domestication refers to the process whereby a population of animals or plants becomes accustomed to human provision and control. Humans have brought these populations under their care for a wide range of reasons: to produce food or valuable commodities (such as wool, cotton, or
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E. f. ferus

Trinomial name
Equus ferus ferus
Boddaert, 1785

The Tarpan, Equus ferus ferus, was the Eurasian wild horse. The last specimen of this species died in captivity in Ukraine in 1918 or 1919.
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E. hemionus

Binomial name
Equus hemionus
Pallas, 1775

The Onager (Equus hemionus
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Equidae
Gray, 1821

Genus: Equus
Linnaeus, 1758

Species

E. asinus - Donkey
E. africanus - African Wild Ass
E. caballus - Domestic Horse
E.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1910s  1920s  1930s  - 1940s -  1950s  1960s  1970s
1940 1941 1942 - 1943 - 1944 1945 1946

Year 1945 (MCMXLV
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1870s  1880s  1890s  - 1900s -  1910s  1920s  1930s
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A zoological garden, zoological park, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures and displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred.
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Anthem
"Монгол улсын төрийн дуулал"
National anthem of Mongolia
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Johann (Hans) Schiltberger (May 9, 1381 – c. 1440) was a German traveller and writer. He was born of a noble family, probably at Hollern near Lohof halfway between Munich and Freising.
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Mongols (Mongolian: Монгол Mongol) specifies one or several ethnic groups largely located now in Mongolia, China, and Russia.
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Khan (sometimes spelled as Xan, Han, Ke-Han) is a title for a sovereign or military ruler in the Altaic languages . It was originally just the title in Turkic for a tribal leader before the Mongols and Turks brought it to the rest of Asia.
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Nikolai Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky, also spelled Przewalski and Prjevalsky (Russian: Никола́й Миха́йлович
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