Zoo bred Przewalski's Horses released into Kazakhstan

[Lafone]

Was reading this article on the BBC this morning about the release of seven zoo bred Przewalski's Horses into Kazakhstan, the first for around 200 years.

Przewalski's horses return to Kazakhstan steppes after 200 years

What a great piece of work coordinated by Prague zoo working with zoos such as Berlin where the horses spent time before release and others who supplied the horses from across Europe, as well as local people and conservation officials.

Hope it sees as much success as the Mongolian release programme.

 

[cerperal]

Was reading this article on the BBC this morning about the release of seven zoo bred Przewalski's Horses into Kazakhstan, the first for around 200 years.

Przewalski's horses return to Kazakhstan steppes after 200 years

What a great piece of work coordinated by Prague zoo working with zoos such as Berlin where the horses spent time before release and others who supplied the horses from across Europe, as well as local people and conservation officials.

Hope it sees as much success as the Mongolian release programme.

It's surreal and quite incredible news to me. I'm sure a lot of us either grew up hearing about the horses being reliant on captive breeding or spent most of our lives knowing about it. Growing up there were (and still are) Przewalski's horses living at a nearby airfield, so it feels very close to home that they are finally leaving Europe.

Incredible work from Prague and Berlin as per usual.

 

[Lafone]

It's surreal and quite incredible news to me. I'm sure a lot of us either grew up hearing about the horses being reliant on captive breeding or spent most of our lives knowing about it. Growing up there were (and still are) Przewalski's horses living at a nearby airfield, so it feels very close to home that they are finally leaving Europe.

Incredible work from Prague and Berlin as per usual.

Inspiring stuff, and with the 34 previous releases contributing to a wild population of more than 800 animals in Mongolia, really shows off one part of the role zoos play.

 

[Tapirus Lar]

Might be a silly question, but when releasing captive bred animals into the wild, or translocating wild animals to a different region,(wild as in born in the wild) how do the animals survive until they figure out the local geography of the region?
I mean, how do the people releasing them know that the animals will figure out the location of waterholes, places to shelter, food sources, and places to avoid due to predators?

I mean they would've been born in captivity, and wouldn't have such knowledge, and even if they were wild born, they wouldn't know the geography of a different region.

 

[Jana]

Might be a silly question, but when releasing captive bred animals into the wild, or translocating wild animals to a different region,(wild as in born in the wild) how do the animals survive until they figure out the local geography of the region?
I mean, how do the people releasing them know that the animals will figure out the location of waterholes, places to shelter, food sources, and places to avoid due to predators?

I mean they would've been born in captivity, and wouldn't have such knowledge, and even if they were wild born, they wouldn't know the geography of a different region.

This is not a silly question. It doesnt have a straighforward answer because "it depends".

But generally - you release a group of animals large enough that it can sustain some losses during initial adaptation period. You chose individual animals with best survival odds, you chose a release place with close to ideal conditions (enough food and shelter, few predators or competitors) and you monitor released animals to evaluate the situation and learn from your mistakes. Both the animals and rangers have a steep learning curve in front of them.

If we speak wild horses specifically. They were chosen from larger groups of young horses held in acclimatisation stations belonging to respective zoos (very large grassy pens in rural landcape) for months prior to transport to gain physical fittness. They´ve got evaluated based on health and behaviour (and genetics of course). The exact place of release "Golden steppe" got chosen after detailed study of that area - food opportunities, water sources, lack of competing domestic horses, lack of poaching etc. The wild horses will now spend 1 year in their huge acclimatisation pens in Kazakhstan. cared for and closely observed, during their first winter, before they will be finally released free.

Along the way, staff evaluate the risks and can pull hand break if they feel it goes south for any of the animals. Once they are released free however - it is just up to the horses to learn how to fend for themselves. Rangers can help out with supply of hay during harsh dzud but the horses themselves must figure out wolves and the rest.

This release program in Kazakhstan releases a lot of detailed info about the whole process but I´m unsure how much gets translated into English.

 

[Tapirus Lar]

Thank you