News
Two wild Przewalski’s horse foals born in Kazakhstan after 200 years
Two wild Przewalski’s horse foals born in Kazakhstan after 200 years. Originally published by Mongabay.
By Shanna Hanbury · 2026-09-10T00:20:33.866Z
Two Przewalski’s horse foals were born in a reintroduction center in the grasslands of central Kazakhstan in late August. They are reportedly the first wild horses born on Kazakh soil in more than 200 years. The first https://www.fauna flora.org/news/celebrating kazakhstans first wild born przewalskis horse in 200 years/ foal, a male, was born Aug. 22 to a 7 year old mare named Tessa. The second https://astanatimes.com/2026/09/second przewalskis horse foal born in kazakhstan/ , also male, followed on Aug. 31, born to a mare named Umbra. They share the same father, a stallion named Zorro who has since died. The Equus ferus przewalskii foals have not yet been named, but their births are being celebrated as a milestone of the Kazakhi reintroduction effort. “The birth of these two foals is important because it shows that the horses are adapting to this climate, to this territory,” Alyona Krivosheyeva, conservation director of the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan ACBK , told Mongabay by phone. “This is the proof of success of what we do.” Both foals were born inside a 56 hectare 140 acre enclosure at the Alibi Wild Ungulates Reintroduction Center, part of Kazakhstan’s 489,000 hectare 1.2 million acre Altyn Dala State Nature Reserve. The reserve has also been an important recovery site for saiga antelopes https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/130920 saiga antelope kazakhstan steppe poaching environment Saiga tatarica and Asiatic wild asses https://fzs.org/en/programs/kazakhstan/altyn dala protecting the golden steppe/kulans return to central kazakhstan/ Equus hemionus kulan . Known locally as kertagy, Przewalski’s horse is the only living wild relative of the domestic horse. It was listed https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/41763/97204950 as extinct in the wild until one adult was found in 1996, after which it was re listed as critically endangered. Since 2011, it has been classified as endangered by the IUCN, the global conservation authority. The species historically lived across the steppe grasslands of Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and northern China, where they served as ecosystem engineers. They graze on dry vegetation to reduce wildfire risk, their hooves disturb the soil letting new plants take root, and they disperse seeds across the landscape as they roam. The population in Kazakhstan was wiped out between the mid 18th and mid 19th century as the former Russian Empire colonized the biome for agriculture and livestock, according to an internal feasibility study shared with Mongabay by the ACBK. The horses were cut off from water and winter pastures, intensively hunted and crossbred with domestic horses — all factors that led to a “ catastrophic https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/41763/97204950 ” decline in the population of wild horses. Captive breeding programs in zoos sustained the remaining individuals, and some have now been returned to parts of Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan as part of efforts to restore the steppe ecosystem. Over the last three years, 22 Przewalski’s horses were translocated to Kazakhstan from Prague Zoo and Tierpark Berlin. Conservationists aim to bring a total of 40 horses to Kazakhstan, the minimum needed to establish a self sustaining wild population. “Now we have a new task: to observe how the first generation of Przewalski’s horses born on Kazakh soil grows and develops,” Vera Voronova, ACBK’s executive director, wrote in a statement https://www.fauna flora.org/news/celebrating kazakhstans first wild born przewalskis horse in 200 years/ . Banner image: Two Przewalski’s horse foals born in Kazakhstan in August 2026. Image courtesy of Albert Salemgareyev.