3,000-Mile Relocation Aims to Secure Future of Once-Extinct Wild Horses
Two female Przewalski’s horses have completed a 3,000-mile (5,000km) journey from Hampshire to Kazakhstan as part of a long-running international effort to restore a species that was once classified as extinct in the wild.
Shara and Togs, both born and raised at Marwell Zoo near Winchester, were transported by plane via Berlin and then by lorry in crates for the final leg of their journey to one of the species’ native ranges in Kazakhstan, where conservation workers released them into the wild.
A Species on the Brink
The Przewalski’s horse — sometimes referred to as the last truly wild horse species — once roamed across central Asia. By the 1960s, however, the species had vanished from the wild entirely. The population was reduced to roughly a dozen breeding individuals held in captivity, making it one of the most dramatic mammalian declines in modern recorded history.
From that precarious low point, decades of coordinated breeding programmes across European zoos have slowly rebuilt the population. The species has since been reintroduced to protected areas in Mongolia, China, and now Kazakhstan. However, it remains endangered. According to the most recent assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), there were 178 mature Przewalski’s horses as of 2014 — a number that, while a marked improvement, still places the species firmly in the endangered category.
Marwell Zoo’s Half-Century Commitment
Marwell Zoo has been involved with Przewalski’s horse conservation since the zoo first opened its gates in 1972, when the species was among the very first animals housed there. The institution has now worked with the horses for more than 50 years, contributing to breeding programmes that supply animals for reintroduction to native habitats.
Ian Goodwin, Marwell Zoo’s animal operations manager, said: “We are proud to have played our part in bringing these incredibly special horses back to the wild. They were one of the very first species at the zoo when it opened in 1972, so we have been working with them for more than 50 years.”
The Logistics of Rewilding
The transportation of large mammals across continents is a complex undertaking. Shara and Togs travelled in purpose-built crates, first by air through Berlin and then by road for the final stretch into Kazakhstan’s reintroduction zone. Such journeys require careful planning around temperature regulation, feeding schedules, and stress minimisation — factors that can determine whether newly released animals successfully adapt to their surroundings.
Kazakhstan represents one of the species’ historic native ranges, and the reintroduction there is part of a broader European zoo-led initiative to establish viable wild populations across multiple sites in central Asia. The hope is that Shara and Togs will breed with other released horses, contributing to the genetic diversity and long-term sustainability of the species’ recovery.
Conservation at a Crossroads
The Przewalski’s horse is frequently cited as one of the few examples of a species declared extinct in the wild that has since been returned to its native habitat through captive breeding. The IUCN downlisted the species from “critically endangered” to “endangered” in 2011, reflecting the progress made. However, the 2014 figure of 178 mature individuals underscores how fragile that recovery remains.
Conservationists emphasise that reintroduction is only one part of the equation. The long-term survival of Przewalski’s horses in the wild depends on the protection of grassland habitats, the management of threats such as harsh winters and disease, and the maintenance of genetic diversity within a still-limited population. With so few mature individuals, every horse released — and every successful breeding event — carries outsized significance for the species’ future.
For Shara and Togs, the 3,000-mile journey marks the transition from a life in Hampshire to one in the open steppes of Kazakhstan. Whether they will help continue the species’ revival will depend on factors both within and beyond human control — but their arrival represents another small, carefully measured step in one of conservation’s most closely watched comeback stories.