Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo’s director, said, “Naturally, there is a reason for this baby boom, and that is our upcoming project to reintroduce Przewalski's horses to Eastern Mongolia, to the Valley of the Monasteries. We will start transporting Przewalski's horses there as soon as there are enough of them in the Golden Steppe in central Kazakhstan.”

In the huge paddock at Dívčí hrady above Prague's Smíchov district there are now eight horses on display: a stallion, four mares and three foals, whose sex has yet to be determined. One foal was born to the mare, Vereda, last Saturday, April 26th, another followed on Monday, April 28th, born to the dam Gruhne. The third mare, called Khamina, gave birth today. People can see them from the observation posts around the paddock.

A foal was also born at Prague Zoo’s breeding and acclimatization station in Dolní Dobřejov. This is Prague Zoo’s largest breeding herd and currently numbers about thirty horses. They live in southern Bohemia in an area nicknamed Czech Siberia. It is here that the horses are getting ready for the demanding transports to the wild in Mongolia or Kazakhstan. By pure chance the mare, Yara, gave birth to the foal on her tenth birthday.

Prague's Dívčí hrady now offer unique views of Przewalski's horses and their foals with the city skyline. On the left stands the mare Vereda with her foal, on the right the mare Gruhne with hers. Photo Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

The oldest of this year's foals was born here in Prague Zoo. On February 27th, the mare, Victoria II, gave birth to a filly, Dagina, in the Gobi exhibit that opened last year. In March, she was named in person by the Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh. The name Dagina means ‘Heavenly Fairy’ in Mongolian. The President said at the time that if Dagina was taken to the Valley of the Monasteries, she could be renamed ‘Eastern Fairy’.

Prague Zoo plays a pivotal role in the story of the last wild horse. It keeps its International Stud Book and runs the European breeding programme whilst actively returning Przewalski's horses to the wild. Between 2011 and 2019, working closely with the Czech Army, it carried out a total of nine transports to western Mongolia. Whilst it is also preparing a project to return them to the east of the country, last year it launched a reintroduction project in central Kazakhstan, where the Przewalski's horses became extinct hundreds of years ago. Last year saw the first seven horses transported there at the beginning of June.

The next transport to Kazakhstan is also planned for the first week of June this year. Two CASA military aircraft will fly eight horses - two stallions and six mares - to the Altyn Dala (Golden Steppe) region. One will fly from Prague with horses from Dolní Dobřejov, the other from Debrecen, Hungary, with horses from Hortobágy National Park, which is Prague Zoo’s partner for this project.

The filly Dagina can be seen at Prague Zoo’s Mongolian Gobi exhibit. Photo Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo