Wild Przewalski's horses are born in Kazakhstan for the first time in 200 years
Two foals born at a reintroduction center in central Kazakhstan mark a milestone for a species once listed as extinct in the wild.
Two Przewalski's horse foals — both male — were born in late August at a reintroduction center in Kazakhstan's grasslands, the first wild horses born on Kazakh soil in more than two centuries. The first arrived August 22 to a mare named Tessa; the second followed August 31, born to a mare named Umbra.
The foals were born inside a 56-hectare enclosure at the Alibi Wild Ungulates Reintroduction Center, part of Kazakhstan's 489,000-hectare Altyn Dala State Nature Reserve. Przewalski's horse, the only living wild relative of the domestic horse, was once listed as extinct in the wild before a single surviving population was found in 1996; it's now classified as endangered.
"The birth of these two foals is important because it shows that the horses are adapting to this climate, to this territory," said Alyona Krivosheyeva of the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan. Conservationists have translocated 22 horses to Kazakhstan over the past three years and aim to reach 40 — the minimum needed for a self-sustaining wild population.
Reporting by Shanna Hanbury for Mongabay. Original: https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/two-wild-przewalskis-horse-foals-born-in-kazakhstan-after-200-years/
This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by an editor before publication.
