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Galloping Ghosts

Wild horses roamed throughout Asia and Europe 20,000 to 30,000 years ago until late into the 19th century! Human populations were small until only a few thousand years ago and didn't have much of an impact on the horses. Przewalski's horses are native to a habitat called the steppe. Until 15,000 years ago, this immense and hardscrabble, sparse grassland habitat stretched from the east coast of Asia to present-day Spain and Portugal. After the last Ice Age, however, the steppe gave way to woods and forests to which the Przewalski's horses weren't well adapted. By the 19th century the few animals that remained were confined to Mongolia, Southern Russia, and Poland. In the early 20th century, farmers and livestock took over good grazing lands, forcing the wild horses into areas that weren't suitable for human use. Wealthy aristocrats and westerners were also fascinated by the unusual wild horses and captured foals to keep as pets. Wild horses were spotted in Mongolia into the 1980s. They became extinct in the wild about that same time. Luckily, a small number of Przewalski's horses remained, scattered about in various zoos around the world. All Przewalski's horses alive today are descendants of 14 horses captured at the beginning of the 20th century.

Bron: Sandiegozoo.org

 

Equus ferus Przewalskii

Przewalski's Horses (Mongolian: Takhi) are a rare and endangered subspecies of wild horses (Equus ferus) and native to the steppes of Central Asia. The horse is named after the Russian geographer and explorer Nikolai Przhevalsky. Most "wild" horses today, such as the American Mustang or the Australian Brumby, are actually feral horses that descended from domesticated animals that escaped and adapted to life in the wild. In contrast, Przewalski's Horses have never been successfully domesticated and remain truly wild animals today. Przewalski's Horses are one of two known subspecies of Equus ferus, the other being the extinct Tarpan (Equus ferus ferus). The Przewalski's Horses are considered the only remaining truly wild horses in the world and may be the closest living wild relatives of the domesticated horse, Equus caballus. There are still a number of other wild equines, including three species of zebra and various subspecies of the African wild ass, onager and kiang.

Behavior

In the wild, Przewalski's Horses live in social groups consisting of a dominant stallion, a dominant lead mare, other mares, and their offspring. The patterns of their daily lives exhibit horse behavior similar to that of feral horse herds: each group has a well-defined home range; within the range, the herd travels between three and six miles a day, spending time grazing, drinking, using salt licks and dozing. At night, the herd clusters and sleeps for about four hours. Ranges of different herds may overlap without conflict, as the stallions are more protective of their mares than their territory. Stallions practice a form of scent marking and will establish piles of dung at intervals along routes they normally travel to warn other males of their presence. In addition, when a female in the herd urinates, the stallion will frequently urinate in the same place, to signal her membership in the herd to other males. The stallions can frequently be seen sniffing dung piles to confirm scent markings.

Bron: Wikipedia.nl

Social ties

It is thought that the Przewalski's horse has never have been successfully domesticated. They live in two kinds of large, distinct social groups: harem groups and bachelor groups. Harem groups rarely have more than 10 mares (females) and their offspring up to two or three years of age, led by one dominant stallion (male). Foals (babies) are born after an 11-month gestation period, and they must be up and moving with the group about 30 minutes after birth. Foals stay with the group they were born into until they are sexually mature. When mares are old enough to reproduce, they leave the harem group to join another. When stallions are old enough to compete with the lead stallion, they are driven out of the group and will join small bachelor groups until they are mature enough to successfully compete for a harem group of their own. The horses graze together, rest together, and utilize a home range of 1 to 12 square miles (3 to 32 square kilometers). Group members spend a lot of time grooming one another, standing side by side, head to tail, and nibbling at one another's backs and sides. This helps to reinforce social bonds within the group and also provides a good scratch!

Looks

Regardless of its classification, the Przewalski's horse is very definitely a horse. It is stocky and short and pot-bellied in comparison with its domestic and wild cousins, with a spiky mane like a zebra and stripped legs like the Somali wild ass. Coats vary in coloration, but all Przewalski's horse have light bellies and darker backs, with a long, dark, "eel stripe" on the back from the withers to the base of the tail. Unlike their horsey cousins, though, they don't have the lock of hair on the forehead, called forelocks. The pony-like head is rectangular and large in comparison with the rest of the body, and the ears are darkly rimmed. Przewalski's horses grow thick, warm coats for the winter, complete with long beards and neck hair. Winter coats are important in the harsh winter desert, where temperatures can be freezing. In high winds, Przewalski's horses will turn their backs to the storm and tuck their tails tightly between their back legs! This may be an adaptation to help protect the eyes and nostrils, while also protecting the sensitive reproductive parts, from the severe winds and sand storms of the Gobi Desert.

Bron: Sandiegozoo.org

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