The surviving descendant of the wild horses

Tahi is the name of a wild animal in its historical Homeland. It is believed that they carry a message to the Gods from man. The youngest and only wild horse species extinct and resurrected. Who are we talking about?Przewalski's horse is the only wild horse that has survived to this day. From the point of view of evolution, it is very young, it is only about 45 thousand years old. The only horse that was not subdued, destroyed, and resurrected by man. Is it possible?The natural habitat of the Przhevalsky horse is steppes, forest-steppes, semi-deserts and low-lying plateaus. At the beginning of the XX century, huge herds of these horses roamed the territories of China, Western Kazakhstan and Mongolia. By the end of the 1970s, Przewalski's Horse had completely disappeared from the wild. Why and how did this happen?Active development of land by man, harsh winters, hunters for skin and meat, all this inevitably led to the disappearance of the Przewalski Horse as a species. The unconquered "Mongolian Mustang" was listed in the international Red Book as a species that disappeared from the wild. Scientists came to their senses in time and thought about the restoration of the population and began the "mission of Revival".The idea was crowned with success. Today, according to the International breeding book, taking into account the" Orenburg reserve", there are about 8000 individuals in captivity. You can meet these cute horses in zoos and nature reserves. Attempts are being actively made to return Przewalski's horse to the wild.(photo by Natalia Sudets, expert at the Roszapovedtsentr of the Ministry of natural resources of Russia, member of the Union of wildlife photographers)

Scientists managed not only to preserve the wild descendant of horses, but also to increase the population. It is worth noting that the work began with only 15 individuals caught in the Dzungaria. And yet, the future of Przewalski's Horses is still unclear.

Whether bred in captivity the horse to adapt to a free life? The impact of inbreeding? And the most important question. Will modern man be able to preserve the miracle created by nature? Or is any non-man-made creation subject to mandatory destruction by the alpha individual of the Planet?The wandering pigeon, the marsupial wolf, the Tarpan, whether Przewalski's Horse will take its place in the cemetery of extinct species depends on us.

Author: Elena Kireeva. Linguist. Teacher. Zoopsychologist.