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Association pour le cheval de Przewalski
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The Przewalski's horse and other wild equid species

The reintroduction into Khomiin-Tal

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Address:
Station biologique de la Tour du Valat
Le Sambuc
F-13200 ARLES
tél : + 33 (0) 490 97 23 13
fax : + 33 (0) 490 97 20 19

Contact:
Frédéric JOLY

Last up-date
10 June 2007


The Przewalski's Horse (Equus ferus przewalskii, Groves 1986) is the world’s last remaining wild horse. No one has so far succeeded in riding one on a regular basis. Nonetheless, unlike numerous domestic horses that have returned to the wild (mustangs, Namibian horses, etc.) this one now only lives in captivity. The last wild individuals were observed in Mongolia in the 1970s.
przewalski_horse
© P. Goeldlin
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The Przewalski Horse Association, TAKH, was created in 1990 to help bring an end to this paradoxical situation. Its aim is to recreate a Przewalski Horse population living in the wild. To this end, in 1993 and 1994 eleven individuals taken from zoos were installed in the département of Lozère, in one of the wildest and most beautiful regions in France: the Causse Méjean, a limestone plateau traditionally used for sheep rearing. Today they make up the Le Villaret herd.

villaret_landscape
Le Villaret whose landscapes are as majestic as those of Mongolia © J.P. Taris
 
This initiative should produce individuals capable of surviving in harsh natural conditions, i.e. those of Mongolia, the Przewalski Horse’s country of origin.
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release
Release after the transport of September 2004
© J.O. Manent
In this country, our attention has been focused on one site since 1996: the “Khomiin-Tal”, situated in the west of the country in the region of the great lakes. This area adjoins the Khar Us Nuur National Park. It is here that we aim to recreate a viable Przewalski Horse population using individuals from Villaret. The 22 founders were successfully released there in September 2004 and August 2005.

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Research into returning the Przewalski Horse to the wild involves rigorous monitoring of the herd. Thus the social structure of the herd, interactions between individuals, the physical condition of individuals and the numbers of parasites in the body are monitored regularly, on both French and Mongolian population. All the data collected are entered into a data base, then analysed. The horses, however, organise their own "daily lives". Our rearing policy is that of non-intervention, we thus allow our "protégés" to discover their own instincts for themselves.

grooming
 
A grooming, one of the studied behaviour
© C. Feh
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Beyond that, our purpose is to carry out an integrated conservation development project in Khar Us Nuur National Park, where several endangered Species live (Saïga antelope, Dalmatian pelecan). One of our main working axis will be to  propose alternative herding patterns that will allow local populations and wildlife to cohabitate.

khar us nuur
 
Wetlands, steppes and moutain of Khar Us Nuur National Park © F. Joly




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