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| Matyááš, aged three, was the sixth foal born at Slatinany and went to Prague Zoo a year later. © Jozef Sebin |
The Czech Republic has returned four rare Przewalski horses to their native Mongolia. The four prized animals have safely made the journey from Prague Zoo in a military plane, which touched down in Khovd, Mongolia The flight carrying the horses, all bred in captivity, took 17 hours, making two refuelling stops in Russia.
The three mares named Kordula, Cassovia and Lima, and a stallion named Matyááš, now face a 280km truck trip to a western Mongolianreserve to join a herd of more than 20 already re-introduced by a French group.
Prague Zoo director Miroslav Bobek reported on Facebook that the horses had a smooth flight, aided by good weather.
Przewalski horses once inhabitated the grasslands of central Asia, but became extinct in the wild in the late 1960s and early 1970s due to hunting and pressure from agriculture. Since then, efforts have been made to introduce monitored herds back to their native country. They were first described in 1881 by Russian zoologist I.S. Poliakov. He named them after Russian explorer Nikolai Przewalski.
The stallion Matyááš is by Fucík, and is a brother to Lima, who is a year older. She was also born in Slatinany, and was transferred with her mother in April to Dolní Dobrejov.
The mare, Kordula, was born on June 7, 2006 and was the 213th foal at Prague Zoo. Her father was Gino, born in 1986 in Denver, and her mother was Uršula, born at Prague Zoo in 1990. In 2008, Kordula was transferred to the stud and acclimatisation station in Dolní Dobrejov where she joined a band of 11 mares.
The three mares named Kordula, Cassovia and Lima, and a stallion named Matyááš, now face a 280km truck trip to a western Mongolianreserve to join a herd of more than 20 already re-introduced by a French group.
Prague Zoo director Miroslav Bobek reported on Facebook that the horses had a smooth flight, aided by good weather.
Przewalski horses once inhabitated the grasslands of central Asia, but became extinct in the wild in the late 1960s and early 1970s due to hunting and pressure from agriculture. Since then, efforts have been made to introduce monitored herds back to their native country. They were first described in 1881 by Russian zoologist I.S. Poliakov. He named them after Russian explorer Nikolai Przewalski.
The stallion Matyááš is by Fucík, and is a brother to Lima, who is a year older. She was also born in Slatinany, and was transferred with her mother in April to Dolní Dobrejov.
The mare, Kordula, was born on June 7, 2006 and was the 213th foal at Prague Zoo. Her father was Gino, born in 1986 in Denver, and her mother was Uršula, born at Prague Zoo in 1990. In 2008, Kordula was transferred to the stud and acclimatisation station in Dolní Dobrejov where she joined a band of 11 mares.
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| The horses begin their journey to Mongolia from Dolní Dobřejov |
Cassovia, was born on August26, 200,6 at Košice Zoo. Her father is an eleven-year-old stallion from Prague, Xeron, who was transferred to Košice Zoo in August 2005. Cassovia was transported to the acclimatisation station in Dolní Dobrejov in mid- May. The horses are bound for the Khomiin Tal Reserve, occupying more than 50,000 hectares, which lies on the edge of the Khar Us National Park, east of the town of Khovd (the Old Russian name was Kobdo). This town played an important role in the story of the Przewalski’s Horse. All caravans of horses caught at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in Gobi and Dzungaria passed through Khovd on their way to Biysk in the Russian Altai, then onward to Europe by the Trans-Siberian Railway. Khomiin Tal was chosen as another place for reintroduction of the Przewalski’s Horse by Claudia Feh, head of the Association Takh foundation under the French branch of the WWF and by Mongolian zoologist, Byamba Munkhtuya. Over the years 2004 and 2005, the French transported 22 horses to Khomiin Tal, some of the mares, however, wereunable to acclimatise fully. At present, the horse population numbers 24: only 5 foals have been born as yet. “The arrival of four young and genetically different horses from Prague is essential for successful continuation of the population in Khomiin Tal, both from a point of view of quantity and quality,” the zoo said. “Completely unrelated horses will significantly enhance the current genetic variety and contribute to an increase in the birth rate.”
source-Horsetalk
2011.06.16
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