Przewalski, a species under threat.
Credit: Yantar – Shutterstock.
Rewilding Spain, an animal conservation NGO, is hoping to reintroduce a horse species in danger of extinction back into the Spanish countryside.
The Przewalski horse, also known as Takhi, is a direct descendant of the first domesticated horses in prehistory, and today, only about 2,000 to 3,000 remain in nature, distributed across Mongolia, China, and Russia, as well as in some zoos.
The animal was practically extinct until the 20th century, when only a few dozen remained in zoos. A Mongolian naturalist collective decided to release the horses into the wild, and since then the recovery of the species has been rapid, although not enough to take it off the endangered list.
Spain is leading the field in the recovery of the Przewalski horse, undoubtedly the pride of global biodiversity projects. Rewilding Spain is promoting a programme to extend the population of this species of wild equine at their farm in Villanueva de Alcorcón (Guadalajara), where they currently keep 26 specimens.
Will be the only horses roaming freely in all of Europe
If their plan gets the go-ahead, the Przewalski horses of Guadalajara will be the only herd that roaming freely in all of Europe, with the exception of the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
The benefits, Rewilding Spain points out, are that in their diet and movements, horses eat biomass such as forest undergrowth, which helps prevent forest fires. As well, they say, with the trend for eco-tourism, they could attract lucrative tourist numbers eager to see them in the wild.
Rewilding Spain continues to campaign as Spanish legislation does not currently allow the presence of wild horses, and, therefore, a reintroduction into the natural environment cannot be carried out yet. The animals are classified under Spanish law as ‘livestock’ and so, not permitted to be released.
