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become so adapted that they could be released into the true wilderness.

This practice has a two-way advantage. Conservationists sometimes wish to re-create the kind of grassland habitat which existed before Man arrived with his grazing herds. Domesticated animals tend to graze one area to exhaustion before moving on. Wild animals are more selective in their diet, and tend to browse larger areas. So, they looked to Przewalski's Horse to provide the wild' grazing required to study how the plant-life developed and adapted.

Such an area was region of Hungarian steppe called the Pentezug, within the Hortobagy National Park. Horses from German zoos were first released here in 1997, followed, the following year, by horses from zoos in Britain.

One of these, Makan', had been the breeding stallion at Marwell Park Zoo, in Hampshire. He had been part of a similar project in England, where, since 1995, a group of bachelor stallions has grazed Eelmoor Marsh, a Site of Special Scientific Interest within the boundary fence of the military test establishment at Farnborough.

These, however, aren't the first horses to be released into the semi-wild. As early as 1993, two mares and a stallion from Marwell were a part of the first release, on the Causse of southern France. Not far away from the release site are the caves of Lascaux, where there are 10,000-year-old cave-paintings of Przewalski's Horses ... or something very similar ...which would have been native to the area in those days.

Some horses, from breeding programmes in Europe, Russia, Australia and America were sent to Mongolia in those early days. But, they couldn't really be said to have been released into the wild, for, although they roamed and grazed freely, they were monitored and supervised by wardens.

The way wasn't yet clear for a true release into the wild. In addition to ensuring the horses had re-discovered the necessary survival skills, there were political problems to be overcome. One of the lesser ones was easily solved. The alternative name of Takhi Horse was adopted, since Colonel Przewalski was a Russian, and his name wasn't too popular in Mongolia.

In fact, many others preferred that name, because it was easier to pronounce! (Shur-vow-ski', if you were wondering!)

In early June, 2000, a herd which had been grazing semi-wild on reclaimed polder-land in Lelystad, Netherlands, was shipped to Mongolia for release into the wild, bringing the total of Przewalski's horses in the country up to 150.

The factors which led to the decline of the horses in the wild haven't been totally eliminated. Dr Waltraut Zimmermann, of the Cologne Zoo, in Germany, says that there is no suitable site in the world, let alone Mongolia, which is not also grazed by feral or domesticated horses.

But, studies reveal that interbreeding usually only happens when a stallion is unable to find a mate of his own species, and any hybrids resulting from such a mating can be easily identified, and removed from the herd.

It is, of course, too early to assess the success of the project. But, it's to be hoped that information gained from it might also be applied to re-introducing other animals to their natural habitat. And, maybe, preserving the habitat itself.

Learn more about this author, Keith K..
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