Wild Horses of the Gobi Desert

Wild Horses

Art Print

Murray, Richard


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The Przewalski’s horse of Mongolia’s Gobi desert–considered the world’s only remaining, “true” wild horse–has had its share of existential challenges over the centuries. Once considered “extinct in the wild”, due primarily to habitat loss, the horse’s status has been upgraded recently to “critically endangered”, based upon criteria set by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (UICN) in Switzerland.

The “upgrade” requires that at least fifty mature individuals be “free-living” in the wild for a minimum of five years. There have been previous attempts to reintroduce the horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) to the Central Asian steppe country from China’s zoos (going back to 1985), but these were considered unsuccessful. Now, after assessments of two horse projects–one at Hustai (Khustain) National Park (with 171 horses living on their own, as of 2006) and the other at Takhin Tal (with 115 horses, as of 2007)–ecologists and wildlife conservationist are confident enough in the animals’ chances for long-term survival to make the official announcement (via a report presented at the Society for Conservation Biology in Beijing, in early November, 2009).