Endangered wild horses have returned to Altyn Dala – the Kazakh name for the Golden Steppe of Kazakhstan for the first time in at least 200 years after decades-long efforts.
The airlifts of seven Przewalski's Horses – one stallion and six mares – from Europe to the Central Asian country took place in early June in an operation run by Prague Zoo in Czechia. They aim to bring in at least 40 more over the next five years.
Researchers told the BBC that the horses are already doing well two weeks in: roaming around the plains and even beginning the mating process.
Zoo officials say it's a triumph of generations of conservation work.
"This is an endangered species returning to their ancestral lands, a species which went extinct in the wild in the 1960s, last seen in Mongolia... so it's just marvellous... a miracle", said Filip Mašek, a spokesperson for Prague Zoo.
While the horses have been slowly reintroduced to Mongolia and China in recent decades, this operation marks the first time they are back in Kazakhstan.
The Przewalski's Horse (Scientific name: Equus przewalskii) is the last wild horse species on the planet, named after Russian explorer Nikolai Przewalski who was the first to identify the horse for the European science community.
The species originated millennia ago from the steppes of Central Asia and was taken by researchers to Europe and North America in the 19th and 20th Centuries, where populations were established in zoos.
Some of them ended up in zoos in Prague and Munich, Germany – it's their descendants that have now been reintroduced in Kazakhstan.
Cultural artefacts show people in the country's north were riding and using the horses for food at least 2,000 years before records of domesticated horses in Europe. But by the time of Przewalski's "discovery" in 1879, the horses could only be found in a small section of western Mongolia. Competition with humans and livestock, along with changes in the environment led to them dying out.
Recognizing the threat, international efforts were made after World War Two to save the animals. And Prague Zoo were entrusted with the "international studship" of the breed.
Przewalski's horses have long been considered the one true remaining wild horse species – as species such as the American mustang and Australian brumby are feral horses descended from domesticated animals.
The Przewalski's horse is shorter and stockier than modern domesticated horses and their genetic differences show that neither species are ancestors of the other.
Prague Zoo, which have spent the past decade and a half introducing the horses back to Central Asia, mainly in Mongolia, said the Kazakhstan operations had been in the plans since 2022 after signing a deal with the local government.
Mašek said the zoo hoped to emulate the success of their Mongolia program last decade – where the introduction of 34 horses had helped boost the native population to now well over 850 animals.
