Animals
Przewalski horses from Berlin fly to Kazakhstan
The Przewalski horses, long considered extinct in their natural habitat, in the Berlin Zoo. photo
© Jens Kalaene/dpa
The wild horses are to be resettled in Kazakhstan. In addition to the Berlin Zoo, the Prague Zoo is also involved in the project.
The Berlin Zoo is sending four Przewalski horses on a long journey Kazakhstan. The animals are to be released into the wild this year with four other animals from the Prague Zoo in the state nature reserve Altyn Dala (Golden Steppe), as announced by Zoological Garden Berlin AG. The common goal is to reintroduce at least 40 horses to their natural habitat over the next five years.
At the end of April, six animals go into quarantine in Berlin. At the beginning of June, the four most suitable animals from Berlin will be flown from BER airport to Kazakhstan on a Czech military aircraft. At the same time as the transport from Berlin, the herd with four animals from the Prague Zoo will set off in a Czech military aircraft. There we go to an acclimatization center in the Central Asian steppe.
“We are extremely pleased that the Przewalski horse will return to Kazakhstan. The ancient wild horse was already extinct in the endless winter-cold grassy steppes of Kazakhstan. Now it is returning and will enrich the beautiful, wild nature of Kazakhstan,” said the ambassador of the republic, Nurlan Onzhanov, quoted in the statement.
The Przewalski horse is named after its discoverer, the Russian explorer Nikolaj Przewalski. At times, the species, which differs from the domestic horse, was considered almost extinct. The population has now grown again to around 2,400 animals in zoos and breeding stations worldwide through targeted breeding. With a shoulder height of 1.3 to 1.5 meters, Przewalski horses are about the same size as ponies and are very resilient. They can live in both freezing cold and extreme heat.
The Berlin Zoo has been committed to returning horses to nature since the mid-1980s. So far, 16 horses born at the zoo have already been made available to projects in China and Mongolia, the statement said.