Przewalski's Horse (Schleich)

 

Przewalski's Horse (Equus przewalskii), also called the takhi, Mongolian wild horse or Dzungarian horse, is an endangered subspecies of wild horse native to the steppes of central Asia. Their typical size is 2.1 meters long and about 350 kilos in adulthood. These horses show several consistent differences in appearance to their domestic relatives, such an erect mane and no forelock. Other features of this animal is the top of the tail has short hair, it has a dark band along its back from the mane to the base of the tail and sometimes they might have dark stripes on their lower legs.

As its name suggests, the Przewalski's wild horse was named after Nikolaj Przewalski, a Russian geographer and explorer. He reported that they lived in small herds of up to fifteen individuals and it is believed they were once quite common, found in European cave paintings. Hunting, military activities and harsh winters caused the populations to decline and by the 1960s, the Przewalski's wild horse was declared extinct in the wild. Captive breeding and subsequent reintroductions to protected reserves now mean the wild horse is classed as "Endangered".

• Przewalski's horses have 66 chromosomes, while domestic horses carry only 64. The two can breed and produce offspring that have 65 chromosomes. The hybrids look like Przewalski's horses, and the only way to identify them is through chromosome testing.
• According to folk tales, Mongolians consider Przewalski's horses to be the riding mounts of the gods and therefore call them "takhi," which means spirit or holy.
• Today there are about 1,200 Przewalski's horses living in zoos, private preserves, and protected areas in Mongolia. Small groups are gradually being reintroduced into the wild to once again roam the grasslands of Mongolia.
• Przewalski's horses weren't scientifically described until 1881, when army officer Nikolai Przewalski obtained a skull and hide of this rarely seen horse and shared them with scientists at a museum in St. Petersburg. Cave paintings 30,000 years old found in Spain and France depict a stocky wild horse with Przewalski's horse features.
• Unlike domestic horses, the Przewalski's horse sheds its mane and tail annually.
• Przewalski's horses are native to a habitat called the steppe. Until 15,000 years ago, this immense and hardscrabble, sparse grassland habitat stretched from the east coast of Asia to present-day Spain and Portugal. After the last Ice Age, however, the steppe gave way to woods and forests, to which Przewalski's horses weren't well adapted. By the 19th century, the few horses that remained were confined to Mongolia, southern Russia, and Poland.