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PRZEWALSKI’S HORSE
Equus przewalskii
Przewalski’s Horse is almost unbelievably the last true wild species
of horse left in the world. All other supposed “wild horses” are
descended from escapees of domesticated herds. The P-Horse, as
it is known in rarefied scientific circles, has never been domesti-
cated. How’s that for a wild thing? How to pronounce it? Easy, it’s
a Polish name and is apparently pronounced shuh-VAL-skee; the
“Pr” is silent. Simple enough?
This horse’s downfall began when German merchant Carl
Hagenbeck, who specialized in selling wild animals to zoos as well
as to P.T. Barnum, captured pretty much all the wild populations
of the horse. By 1945, just 31 P-Horses remained in two zoos in
Munich and Prague.
Today, more than 1,500 individual P-Horses exist. Thanks to a
reintroduction program, this horse is now found on the steppes
of Central Asia, and up to 300 horses gambol around in Mongo-
lia. China’s own captive breeding program has also successfully
reintroduced a herd of horses into the wild. Small bands of horses
in Russia and Hungary are doing well.
Przewalski’s Horse is now considered endangered, which is an
incredible turnaround considering it had been deemed extinct in
the wild up until 2008.