Skip to main content

Przewalski's Horse


The Przewalski's Horse was extinct in the wild for over 30 years. Also known as the Asian Wild Horse and Mongolian Wild Horse, it is a true wild horse, the only one left after the complete extinction of the Tarpan over 100 years ago. Other seemingly "wild" horses, like the North American mustangs and Australian brumby, are feral populations. This means they descend from domesticated individuals. The Przewalski's horse is completely untouched by human domestication, and even posess two more chromosomes in their genetic makeup than domesticated horses.

Przewalski horses have short, stocky bodies and large heads. They stand about 13 hands (hand = 4 inches) at the shoulder and weigh between 550 and 750lbs. They are characterized by their brownish dun bodies and white underbellies, with dark muzzles and tails and a short, upright mane with no forlock (forehead hair). Visually they appear similar to the horses depicted on the walls of the Lascaux Caves which are around 17,000 years old.

Images from the Smithsonian
The horses went extinct in the wild due to interbreeding, hunting, and loss of habitat. There are now roughly 1,500 captive Przewalski Horses in the world, with cooperative breeding programs that work to manage the most genetic diversity possible, as all of the current living horses actually descend from about 15-20 individuals.They are one of 115 species that have ongoing Species Survival Plans under the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Reintroduction efforts have been ongoing for the past 20 years, with successful herds now appearing in Mongolia and China. Captive herds are also thriving, with one of the largest interestingly being kept in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, where wildlife reintroduction has been doing exceptionally well. Another captive herd, kept at the Calgary Zoo's Devonian Wildlife Conservation Center, recently welcomed three new foals to the group. (And they are currently running a contest to name them)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!

Halloween Crab

Gecarcinus quadratus The Halloween Crab goes by many names, including the Red Land Crab, Whitespot Crab, and Moon Crab. I personally like Halloween Crab though, since it really reflects the interesting colors. They have black carapaces, orange-red legs, and purple claws! Halloween Crabs live in the Pacific coast mangroves and forests of Central and South America. They actually live in the forests as adults, and return to the ocean in order to reproduce. Did you know that they live as far away as 18 miles (30km)  from water? Not where you normally think Crabs to be! While living in the forest, the Crabs forage nocturnally for different plant matter, including leaves and sapling. They also dig long burrows into the ground for protection. These burrows can measure nearly 5 ft long! Halloween Crabs are sometimes kept in captivity, and can be very tricky pets due to their excellent climbing skills. IUCN Status :  Not Listed Location :   Cent