On arrival in Mongolia
Immediately after their arrival in Mongolia, the groups formed again,
showing that
the horses kept the social links that existed at Le Villaret. During
their first days in Monoglia the horses were quite tired: they walked
with
their heads held low and spent long periods resting. They also found
the sandy soil of Khomiin Tal quite difficult to walk in. This
did
not last more
than a week, and then they adapted very well.
Adaptation to a new habitat
The reintroduced horses adopted the foraging preferences of the local
domestic horses
with incredible rapidity. Some plant species are more
nutritious
than others, and within a month our horses found them. They learnt to
drink in rivers and natural springs like proper wild horses, when
previously they had
only known Le Villaret’s water tank. Lastly, they learnt to
find
refuge from the few stinging insects still present at the end of the
summer in the purpose-made insect shelters.
|
 |
|
| First mouthfulls
of Mongolian grass
|
First sips of
spring water
|
And under insect
shelters… |
The horses also learnt how to cope during winter. Helped by
their ten years of “tough life” at Le Villaret,
they easily scratched the snow to find grass to graze and developed
thick
winter coat to keep them warm. Both the horses reintroduced in 2004 and
2005 survived their first year in the wild with little problem, despite
the 2004 horses having to deal with winter temperatures down to -48C in
their first winter! We would like to thank the Mongolian rangers who
looked after them with
spectacular devotion during the harshest winter periods.
 |
| Horses during
winter 2004/2005 under the warm shelter of their thick fur
|
Predators
The only large predators present in the reintroduction site are wolves,
which are occasionally seen by the rangers and also den each year in
Seriin Nuruu. Local people hunt wolves as they kill their livestock.
None of our reintroduced Przewalski horses have been killed by wolves,
despite several of the rangers' riding horses being taken by them.
Behaviour
Since reintroduction the horses have adapted to the food, climate and
water of Mongolia, but have also had to cope with occasional
disturbance by domestic horses who cross the river and enter the
release site as there is better grazing there. This seems to affect the
behaviour of the horses, as the mares avoid livestock and the stallions
get into more fights.
Population growth
The population did not grow in the first years after reintroduction,
both as a result of contraceptives given before transport, and the
acclimatisation process. Finally in 2008 we had our first surviving
foals (see this
table
for up-dated population detail).
