Улаанбаатар
Przewalski Horses to Be Reintroduced to Numrug with Czech Support
Society
Ulaanbaatar, December 13, 2024 /MONTSAME/. In an ambitious international collaboration, an agreement between the Prague Zoo and the Administration of the Strictly Protected Area of Numrug in Mongolia to reintroduce Przewalski horses (known as "takhi" in Mongolian) to their natural habitat was signed on December 13, 2024.
The agreement, signed today by Minister of Environment and Climate Change of Mongolia Odontuya Saldan and Czech Ambassador to Mongolia Jan Vytopil, aims to establish a self-sustaining population of Przewalski horses in the Dornod aimag, leveraging decades of successful captive breeding and reintroduction efforts. Thanks to intensive conservation programs, the once critically endangered species has seen a remarkable recovery, with individuals being reintroduced to their original range.
This partnership represents a significant milestone in global conservation efforts for the species, which was declared extinct in the wild in the 1960s. The project contains key objectives, such as the construction of a reintroduction center in the Numrug Strictly Protected Area, continuous monitoring of the horses' adaptation to the environment, their reproduction patterns, and ecosystem impact, as well as the preservation of biodiversity and ecological balance in the Strictly Protected Area of Numrug.
"For more than a decade, Prague Zoo has been involved in the successful reintroduction of Przewalski horses back into the wild in Mongolia. With the signing of this agreement, another location, this time in the east in an area called the 'Valley of Monasteries,' will be added to the existing efforts in the Khustai National Park in central Mongolia and the Khomiin Tal National Park in the west," explains Czech Ambassador Jan Vytopil, emphasizing the significance of the agreement.
