Przewalski’s horse

Przewalski’s horse
The CASA aircraft carrying Przewalski’s horses landing on the unpaved runway in Bulgam Sum, western Mongolia. Photo: Jaroslav Šimek, Prague Zoo

Transporting wild horses

Transports of Przewalski’s horses to their original Central Asian homeland typically take place in June or July. The horses are transported in special crates aboard military CASA aircraft to the nearest suitable landing site in the destination country, and from there, they continue overland by lorries to their final destination.

A herd of Przewalski’s horses runs for the first time in hundreds of years through the landscape of the Golden Steppe in Kazakhstan, where their ancestors once went extinct. Photo: Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo

Return of the wild horses—Kazakhstan

Historically, the Przewalski’s horse was widespread across the vast steppes of Central Asia, including Kazakhstan. Since 2024, Prague Zoo has been conducting transports aimed at reintroducing this species to the country. Over the course of five years, a total of approximately 40 Przewalski’s horses are to be released to the...

A view of the Valley of Monasteries landscape in eastern Mongolia, where the planned reintroduction of Przewalski’s horses is to take place in the coming years. Photo: Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo

Return of the wild horses—eastern Mongolia

The intention to reintroduce Przewalski’s horses to eastern Mongolia has existed for several decades. Following a lengthy process that included remote sensing methods as well as numerous visits to the selected areas and their botanical, zoological, parasitological, and meteorological surveys, the Valley of Monasteries was...

Wild-living Przewalski’s horses in the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area. Photo: Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo

Saving the Przewalski’s horses

Decades ago, the Przewalski’s horse got extinct in the wild. It has been, however, preserved under human care, and an extraordinary credit for this goes to Prague Zoo, whose breeding programme for these rare horses began in 1932.

A historic moment: on 16 June 2011, one of the four Przewalski’s horses runs out of the transport crate into the acclimatisation enclosure in the Khomyn Tal area near Khar Us Nuur National Park in western Mongolia, marking the culmination of Prague Zoo’s demanding and unprecedented project. Photo: Jana Ptačinská Jirátová, Prague Zoo

Return of the wild horses—western Mongolia

Between 2011 and 2019, Prague Zoo, in cooperation with the Czech Air Force, organised nine transports of Przewalski’s horses to western Mongolia. The first four horses (a stallion and three mares) were sent to the Khomyn Tal area, while in the following years, a total of 30 horses were transported to the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area.

ZOOPRAHA.CZ

Before visit

Must see

About zoo

Animals

Multimedia and social networks

Help us

Contacts

  • The Prague zoological garden
    U Trojskeho zamku 120/3
    171 00 Praha 7

    Phone.: (+420) 296 112 230 (public relations department)
    e-mail: zoopraha@zoopraha.cz

Others