On July 27, 2013, a mare of the endangered Przewalski’s horse bore the first foal produced by artificial insemination. The young female was born at the Smithsonian Institution’s Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia.
Przewalski’s horse (Equus ferus) is the only truly wild horse species left in the world. It is native to the vast open steppes of Mongolia, China and Russia. It is smaller than domestic horses, standing about 5 feet high at the withers, and weighing 400-600 pounds at maturity. It is stockier than domestic horses, with short legs and neck. Coloration is generally light brown, with dark brown lower legs and dark main and tail, which is sheds annually. It has a double set of chromosomes which prevent effective hybridization with domestic horses. Consequently, the species has remained distinct and was never domesticated. Occasional specimens kept in captivity were considered great treasures in ancient times.
The species declined throughout the 19 and early 20 Centuries, owing to hunting, competition with domestic livestock and being forced into marginal arid habitats with insufficient water sources. Collecting for zoos also damaged the populations, as the species became a prized zoo animal over the past century. IUCN declared the species “extinct in the wild” up until 1996.
Collecting for zoos turned out to be the savior for the species. About 1300 individuals exist in zoos around the world, with their genetics and other characteristics now carefully analyzed and monitored. All horses in zoos share the same 14 ancestors, leading to concerns for loss of genetic diversity. The Prague Zoo, in the Czech Republic, manages the official database on Przewalski’s horse genetics and has bred more than 200 foals since the 1950s.
With the success of captive breeding, populations were reintroduced into China and Mongolia started in the late 1980s. Reintroductions have been successful, with now about 150 horses living freely in several small populations in its normal range.
Read MoreApril is Keep America Beautiful Month
Back in 1971, The Keep America Beautiful organization teamed up with the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to create Keep American Beautiful Day. It was expanded in 1982 to a week, and then to the entire month of April in 1984. As spring takes hold of the weather and the landscape awaken with the greening of trees and grasses, the blooming of wildflowers and the melodies of nesting songbirds, we, too, ought to take special notice of our beautiful environment—and do something to, as they say, keep it beautiful.
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