Prague Zoo: It plans to transport Převalský’s horses to the east of Mongolia
According to the director of the zoo, Miroslav Bobek, the award for the Prague Zoo is undoubtedly a historical event. “The protection of biodiversity in zoos or animal husbandry is currently considered a priority,” he noted.
This year, the Prague Zoo celebrates 90 years since its opening, the first Převalský horses arrived in Czechoslovakia ten before that. On Sunday, it will be exactly one hundred years since the first three horses arrived. The history of their discovery and rescue dates back to the second half of the 19th century. “In 1877, the traveler Nikolai Przhevalsky received a skin and a skull from hunters on the border of present-day China and Mongolia. He brought them to St. Petersburg and there it was recognized as a new species of hitherto unknown wild horse, “recalled the zoological deputy Jaroslav Šimek. At that time, no one assumed that wild horses were still alive in the wild and expeditions began to set out for the area.
More than 200 foals born
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, 54 of them were brought to Europe. “The blood of simply 12 of them still circulates in all horses living today,” said the deputy. He has been breeding in the Prague Zoo since 1932. “This year we ended up with 249 foals born in Prague breeding, “ added Šimek. They can keep here even during the Second World War, when their condition in zoos around the world was reduced to a minimum of 31. The first conference on the rescue of the species took place in Prague in 1959, because there were already reports that in In their homeland, the numbers of wild horses are not developing well. Ten years later, they were last observed in the wild.
The population kept in zoos exceeded 500 horses for the first time in the 80’s and therefore also began the effort to return them to the wild. They left Prague for the first three horses in 1992. The rescue was first started by a private foundation, and later the zoos became involved. In the 1990s, however, the population did not do well in 2010. Mongolia was hit by a severe winter, when more than 2/3 of Převalský’s horses died there. “It was a great tragedy,” the deputy remarked.
It was also an impulse to the creation of the Return of Wild Horses program. At that time, the population in the Prague Zoo was doing well, they even had to limit the breeding, because there was nowhere to put horses. Since 2011, when the transport of horses to Mongolia began in cooperation with the Czech Army, they have been there returned 34 and this project must contribute to the recovery of their population. This year, already in the Strictly Protected Area of the Great Gobi B, their number exceeded 350.
The horses head east for Mongolia
Zoo director Bobek reminded that it is not just about transport and release into nature, but also about the support of local rangers and conservationists. “In total, we invested almost 25 million crowns in Převalský’s horses in Mongolia, which is the amount at the level at which the world’s zoos support these projects, “he said. Precisely because horses thrive in the west of Mongolia and their number is sustainable in the long run, the Prague Zoo came with the expansion of the entire program to another part of the country.
“We will do another reintroduction project in eastern Mongolia. A new core for the return of horses should be created Převalský in the east of the country, “he announced. According to him, it is a very ambitious project for a long time, but suitable areas have already been identified and cooperation with the local Ministry of the Environment has been concluded. “Transports could start in a few years,” he added.
Prague Zoo Director Miroslav Bobek, Deputy Mayor Petr Hlubuček and a member of the Mongolian Embassy Amartuvshin Norov for the transport of Převalský’s horses in 2019. Daniel Vitous
Release of Převalský’s horses to the Gobi B Strictly Protected Area in 2014.
Author: Petr Josek