Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Following the Pages of the Red Book of Russia: The Przewalski’s Horse

  • SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF ARID TERRITORIES
  • Published:
Arid Ecosystems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Przewalski’s horse (Equus przewalskii Poljakov, 1881) is one of 13 species included in the List of Rare and Endangered Wildlife that require priority measures for restoration and reintroduction. The species is listed on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This is the last surviving species from a group of once numerous and diverse wild horses of Eurasia. Being of great interest to world science, the history of the discovery of the Przewalski’s horse, its description, systematics, other features of biology, issues of restoration, reintroduction deserve the special attention of researchers from both the former Soviet Union and pre-revolutionary and modern Russia, who stood at the origins of conservation of this species. The experience gained by the specialists of our country in the implementation of a number of international projects on the reintroduction of the Przewalski’s horse and the restoration of its natural populations served as the basis for the preparation of programs for the creation of breeding centers and the formation of its semi-free populations, which are implemented, first of all, on the territory of the Orenburgsky State Nature Reserve. A long-term strategy that has transparent mechanisms for coordination and interaction of all organizations involved in its implementation and provides for evidence-based approaches using modern research methods in its implementation will contribute to the successful implementation of the Program for the Restoration of the Przewalski’s Horse in the Russian Federation approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia on April 8, 2022.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Ahrens, E. and Stranzinger, G., Comparative chromosomal studies of E. caballus (ECA) and E. przewalskii (EPR) in a female F1 hybrid, J. Anim. Breed. Genet., 2005, vol. 122, pp. 97–102.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Andreev, A.I. and Gnatyuk, T.Yu., Zoological collections, in Rossiiskie ekspeditsii v Tsentral’nuyu Aziyu: organizatsiya, polevye issledovaniya, kollektsii. 1870–1920-e gg. (Russian Expeditions to Central Asia: Organization, Field Research, Collections), Andreev, A.I., Ed., St. Petersburg: Nestor-Istoriya, 2013, pp. 157–233.

  3. Bannikov, A.G., The current state and biology of the wild horse, Priroda (Moscow, Russ. Fed.), 1959, no. 5, pp. 50–51.

  4. Bokonyi, S., The Przevalsky Horse, London: Souvenir Press, 1974.

  5. Bouman, D.T. and Bouman, J.G., The history of Przewalski’s Horse, in Przewalski’s Horse: The History and Biology of an Endangered Species, Boyd, L. and Houpt, D.A., Eds., Albany, NY, USA: State University of New York Press, 1994, pp. 5–38.

  6. Bowling, A.T. and Ryder, O.A., Genetic studies of blood markers in Przewalski’s horse, J. Hered., 1987, vol. 78, pp. 75–80.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Dovchin, N., The Przewalski horse in Mongolia, in Equus. Proc. 1st Int. Symp. for the Protection of the Przewalski’s Horse, Prague: Czech Acad. Sci., 1961, p. 22–27.

  8. Flint, V.E., Pereladova, O.B., Mirutenko, M.V., Kovshar’, A.F., and Zhirnov, L.V., Experimental program of work on the creation of free populations of the Przewalski’s horse in the Kazakhstan-Central Asian region, in Redkie i ischezayushchie vidy mlekopitayushchikh SSSR (Rare and Endangered Mammal Species of the USSR), Moscow: Nauka, 1990, pp. 98–113.

  9. Gaunitz, C., Fages, A., Hanghoj, K., Albrechtsen, A., Khan, N., Schubert, M., Seguin-Orlando, A., Owens, I.J., Felkel, S., Bignon-Lau, O., de Barros, Damgaard, P., Mittnik, A., Mohaseb, A.F., Davoudi, H., Alquraishi, S., Alfarhan, A.H., Al-Rasheid, K.A.S., Crubezy, E., Benecke, N., Olsen, S., Brown, D., Anthony, D., Massy, K., Pitulko, V., Kasparov, A., Brem, G., Hofreiter, M., Mukhtarova, G., Baimukhanov, N., Lõugas, L., Onar, V., Stockhammer, P.W., Krause, J., Boldgiv, B., Undrakhbold, S., Erdenebaatar, D., Lepetz, S., Mashkour, M., Ludwig, A., Wallner, B., Merz, V., Merz, I., Zaibert, V., Willerslev, E., Librado, P., Outram, A.K., and Orlando, L., Ancient genomes revisit the ancestry of domestic and Przewalski’s horses, Science, 2018, vol. 360, no. 6384, pp. 111–114.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Geptner, V.G., Nasimovich, A.A., and Bannikov, A.G., Mlekopitayushchie SSSR (Mammals of the USSR), vol. 1: Parno- i neparnokopytnye (Paired and Odd-Toed Ungulates), Moscow: Vysshaya Shkola, 1961.

  11. Goldman, J.G., 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Przewalski’s Horses, 2014. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal/10-things-you-didne280-99t-know-about-przewalskie28099s-horses/. Cited April 23, 2023.

  12. Grishchenko, V.N., Those who despised the bridle, Gumanitarnyi Ekologicheskii Zhurnal, 2004, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 90–95.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Groves, C.P., The taxonomy, distribution and adaptations of recent equids, in Equids in the Ancient World, Meadow, R.H. and Uepermann, H.P., Eds., Wiesbaden: Dr Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1986, pp. 11–65.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Groves, C.P., Morphology, habitat and taxonomy, in Przewalski’s Horse. The History and Biology of an Endangered Species, Boyd, L. and Houpt, D.A., Eds., Albany, NY, USA: State University of New York Press, 1994, pp. 39–59.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations.Version 1.0., Gland, Switzerland: IUCN Species Survival Commission, 2013.

  16. Guthrie, R.D., Frozen Fauna of the Mammoth Steppe, Chicago, IL., USA: University of Chicago Press, 1990.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  17. In the Orenburgsky Reserve, the population of the Przewalski’s horse has reached 85 animal, 2022. https://expert-ural.com/news/v-zapovednike-orenburgskiy-populyaciya-loshadi-przhevalskogo-dostigla-85-zhivotnih.html. Cited April 23, 2023.

  18. Ishida, N., Oyunsuren, T., Mashima, S., Mukoyama, H., and Saitou, N., Mitochondrial DNA sequences of various species of the genus Equus with special reference to the phylogenetic relationship between Przewalski’s wild horse and domestic horse, J. Mol. Evol., 1995, vol. 41, pp. 180–188.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Jiang, Z. and Zong, H., Reintroduction of the Przewalski’s horse in China: Status quo and outlook, Nature Conservation Research, 2019, vol. 4, pp. 15–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Kaczensky, P., Šturm, M.B., Sablin, M.V., Voigt, C.C., Smith, S., Ganbaatar, O., Balint, B., Walzer, C., and Spasskaya, N.N., Stable isotopes reveal diet shift from pre-extinction to reintroduced Przewalski’s horses, Sci. Rep., 2017, vol. 7, no. 5950.

  21. King, S.R.B., Extinct in the wild to endangered: The history of przewalski’s horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) and its future conservation, Mongolian Journal of Biological Sciences, 2005, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 37–41.

    Google Scholar 

  22. King, S.R.B., Boyd, L., Zimmermann, W., and Kendall, B.E., Equus ferus ssp. Przewalskii, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2015, p. e.T7961A97205530. Cited April 23, 2023.https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T7-961A45172099.en

  23. Knowles, J. and Wakefield, S., Przewalski’s horse, in Zebras, Asses, and Horses: An Action Plan for the Conservation Of Wild Equids, IUCN/SSC Action Plans for the Conservation of Biological Diversity, Duncan P., Ed., Gland: IUCN, 1992.

  24. Kosintsev, P.A. and Plasteeva, N.A., Przewalski’s Horse: The Wild Species or a Feral Domestic Horse?, Priroda, 2018, no. 7, pp. 9–12.

  25. Kosintsev, P.A., Plasteeva, N.A., and Vasil’ev, S.K., Wild horses (Equus (Equus) S.L.) of Western Siberia in the Holocene, Zool. Zh., 2013, vol. 92, no. 9, pp. 1107–1116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Kozhamkulova, B.S., Antropogenovaya iskopaemaya teriofauna Kazakhstana (Anthropogenic Fossil Theriofauna of Kazakhstan), Alma-Ata: Nauka, 1969, pp. 38–56.

  27. Red Book of the Russian Federation (Animals) (Krasnaya kniga Rossiiskoi Federatsii (Zhivotnye)), Moscow: AST, 2001.

  28. Red Book of the Russian Federation. Animals (Krasnaya kniga Rossiiskoi Federatsii. Zhivotnye), Moscow: Feder. Gos. Byudzhet. Uchrezhd. “Vseross. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ekologiya”, 2021.

  29. Kubarev, V.D., Mammoths from Baga-Oigur (On the chronology of the ancient drawings of the Mongolian Altai), in Istoriko-Kul’turnoe nasledie Severnoi Azii: Itogi i perspektivy izucheniya na rubezhe tysyacheletii. Materialy XLI Regional’noi arkheologo-etnograficheskoi studencheskoi konferentsii (Historical and Cultural Heritage of North Asia: Results and Prospects of Study at the Turn of the Millennium. Proc. XLI Regional Archaeological and Ethnographic Student Conf.), Barnaul, 2001, pp. 435–440.

  30. Kusliy, M.A., Genetic diversity of ancient and modern horses of Altai and adjacent territories, Cand. Sci. (Biol.) Dissertation, Novosibirsk, 2022.

  31. Kuz’mina, I.E., Horses of Northern Eurasia from the Pliocene to the present, in Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta (Proceedings of the Zoological Institute), St. Petersburg: Zoologicheskii institut RAN, 1997, vol. 273.

  32. Ladygina, O., The horse that doesn’t exist, Vokrug Sveta, 2021, no. 6 (2967), pp. 102–109.

  33. Leroi-Gourhan, A., Préhistoire de l’art Occidental, Paris: Mazenod, 1971.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Librado, P., Khan, N., Fages, A., Kusliy, M.A., Suchan, T., Tonasso-Calvière, L., Schiavinato, S., Alioglu, D., Fromentier, A., Perdereau, A., Aury, J.-M., Gaunitz, C., Chauvey, L., Seguin-Orlando, A., Der Sarkissian, C., Southon, J., Shapiro, B., Tishkin, A.A., Kovalev, A.A., Alquraishi, S., Alfarhan, A.H., Al-Rasheid, K.A.S., Seregély, T., Klassen, L., Iversen, R., Bignon-Lau, O., Bodu, P., Olive, M., Castel, J.-C., Boudadi-Maligne, M., Alvarez, N., Germonpré, M., Moskal-del Hoyo, M., Wilczyński, J., Pospuła, S., Lasota-Kuś, A., Tunia, K., Nowak, M., Rannamäe, E., Saarma, U., Boeskorov, G., Lōugas, L., Kyselý, R., Peške, L., Bălășescu, A., Dumitrașcu, V., Dobrescu, R., Gerber, D., Kiss, V., Szécsényi-Nagy, A., Mende, B.G., Gallina, Z., Somogyi, K., Kulcsár, G., Gál, E., Bendrey, R., Allentoft, M.E., Sirbu, G., Dergachev, V., Shephard, H., Tomadini, N., Grouard, S., Kasparov, A., Basilyan, A.E., Anisimov, M.A., Nikolskiy, P.A., Pavlova, E.Y., Pitulko, V., Brem, G., Wallner, B., Schwall, C., Keller, M., Kitagawa, K., Bessudnov, A.N., Bessudnov, A., Taylor, W., Magail, J., Gantulga, J.-O., Bayarsaikhan, J., Erdenebaatar, D., Tabaldiev, K., Mijiddorj, E., Boldgiv, B., Tsagaan, T., Pruvost, M., Olsen, S., Makarewicz, C.A., Valenzuela Lamas, S., Albizuri Canadell, S., Nieto Espinet, A., Iborra, M.P., Lira Garrido, J., Rodríguez González, E., Celestino, S., Olària, C., Arsuaga, J.L., Kotova, N., Pryor, A., Crabtree, P., Zhumatayev, R., Toleubaev, A., Morgunova, N.L., Kuznetsova, T., Lordkipanize, D., Marzullo, M., Prato, O., Bagnasco Gianni, G., Tecchiati, U., Clavel, B., Lepetz, S., Davoudi, H., Mashkour, M., Berezina, N.Y., Stockhammer, P.W., Krause, J., Haak, W., Morales-Muñiz, A., Benecke, N., Hofreiter, M., Ludwig, A., Graphodatsky, A.S., Peters, J., Kiryushin, K.Y., Iderkhangai, T.-O., Bokovenko, N.A., Vasiliev, S.K., Seregin, N.N., Chugunov, K.V., Plasteeva, N.A., Baryshnikov, G.F., Petrova, E., Sablin, M., Ananyevskaya, E., Logvin, A., Shevnina, I., Logvin, V., Kalieva, S., Loman, V., Kukushkin, I., Merz, I., Merz, V., Sakenov, S., Varfolomeyev, V., Usmanova, E., Zaibert, V., Arbuckle, B., Belinskiy, A.B., Kalmykov, A., Reinhold, S., Hansen, S., Yudin, A.I., Vybornov, A.A., Epimakhov, A., Berezina, N.S., Roslyakova, N., Kosintsev, P.A., Kuznetsov, P.F., Anthony, D., Kroonen, G.J., Kristiansen, K., Wincker, P., Outram, A., and Orlando, L., The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes, Nature, 2021, vol. 598, no. 7882, pp. 634–640.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Lomolino, M.V. and Channell, R., Splendid isolation: Patterns of geographic range collapse in endangered mammals, J. Mammal., 1995, vol. 76, pp. 335–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Mohr, E., The Asiatic Wild Horse, London: J.A. Allen and Co, Ltd., 1971.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Oakenfull, E.A. and Ryder, O.A., Mitochondrial control region and 12S rRNA variation in Przewalski’s horse (Equus przewalskii), Anim. Genet., 1998, vol. 29, pp. 456–459.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Oakenfull, E.A., Lim, H.N., and Ryder, O.A., A survey of equid mitochondrial DNA: Implications for the evolution, genetic diversity and conservation of Equus, Conserv. Genet., 2000, no. 1, pp. 41–55.

  39. Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia dated April 8, 2022 N 13-R “On Approval of the Program for the Restoration of the Przewalski’s Horse in the Russian Federation”, 2022. https://rulaws.ru/acts/ Raspory-azhenie-Minprirody-Rossii-ot-08.04.2022-N-13-r/. Cited April 23, 2023.

  40. Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia dated August 29, 2019, 2019. https://ru-laws.ru/acts/ Rasporyazhenie-Minprirody-Rossii-ot-29.08.2019-N-26-r/. Cited April 23, 2023.

  41. Pereladova, O.B. and Flint, V.E., Przewalski’s horse - Equus przewalskii Poljakov, 1881, in Krasnaya kniga Rossiiskoi Federatsii (zhivotnye) (Red Data Book of the Russian Federation (Animals)), Moscow: AST-Astrel’, 2001, pp. 699–700.

  42. Plasteeva, N.A. and Klementiev, A.M., Late pleistocene horse Equus (Equus) ferus (Perissodactyla, Equidae) from the Cis-Baikal and Transbaikalia, Tr. Zool. Inst. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2017, vol. 321, no. 2, pp. 180–198.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Rachkovskaya, E.I. and Volkova, E.A., Vegetation map of the Dzungarian Gobi, in Geobotanicheskoe kartografirovanie (Geobotanical Mapping), Leningrad: Nauka, 1980, pp. 24–39.

  44. Rozhnov, V.V., Spasskaya, N.N., Chibilev, A.A., Levykin, S.V., Orlov, V.N., Paklina, N.V., Pozdnyakova, M.K., and Petrishchev, B.I., Programma po vosstanovleniyu loshadi Przheval’skogo v Orenburgskoi oblasti (The Program on Reintroduction of the Przewalskii Horse in Orenburgskaya Oblast (Southern Ural Region, Russian Federation)), Moscow: KMK, 2010.

  45. Rozhnov, V., Orlov, V., Paklina, N., and Spasskaya, N., Reintroduction of the Przewalski’s horse, Nauka v Rossii, 2011, no. 4, pp. 32–37.

  46. Ryder, O.A., Putting the wild horse back to the wild, in International Symposium on the Preservation of the Przewalski Horse, Seifert, S., Ed., Leipzig: Zoologischer Garten Leipzig, 1992, pp. 328–331.

  47. Ryder, O., Genetic studies of Przewalski’s horses and their impact on conservation, in Przewalski’s Horse. The History and Biology of an Endangered Species, Boyd, L. and Houpt, D.A., Eds., Albany, NY, USA: State University of New York Press, 1994, pp. 75–92.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Sokolov, V.E., Amarsanaa, G., Paklina, M.W., Posdnjakowa, M.K., Ratschkowskaj, E.I., and Chotoluu, N., Letzte Przewalskipferd areal und seine Geobotanische Characteristik, in International Symposium on the Preservation of the Przewalski Horse, Seifert, S., Ed., Leipzig: Zoologischer Garten Leipzig, 1992, pp. 213–218.

  49. Sommer, R.S., Benecke, N., Lõugas, L., Nelle, O., and Schmölcke, U., Holocene survival of the wild horse in Europe: A matter of open landscape?, Journal of Quaternary Science, 2011, vol. 26, no. 8, pp. 805–812.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Spasskaya, N., Horses: Wild, domestic, feral, free, Kommersant” Nauka. Zoologiya, 2018, no. 63(4). https://elementy.ru/nauchno-populyarnaya_biblioteka/43447-3/Loshadi_dikie_domashnie_odichavshie_svobodnye. Cited April 23, 2023.

  51. Spasskaya, N.N., Preservation and reintroduction of the Przewalski’s horse (Equus ferus przewalskii Poljakov, 1881): Dizzy with success?, Stepnoi Byulleten’, 2016, no. 46, pp. 50–56.

  52. Spasskaya, N.N., Przewalski’s horse (Equus przewalskii Poljakov, 1881), in Krasnaya kniga Rossiiskoi Federatsii. Zhivotnye (Red Book of the Russian Federation. Animals), Moscow: Feder. Gos. Byudget. Uchrezhd. “Vseross. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ekologiya”, 2021, pp. 1015–1016.

  53. Spasskaya, N.N. and Gaiduchenko, L.L., On the possibility of the distribution of the Przewalski’s horse in the territory of Northern Kazakhstan at the beginning of the Holocene, in Dinamika sovremennykh ekosistem v golotsene. Materialy Rossiiskoi nauchnoi konferentsii, 2–3 fevralya 2006 g. (Dynamics of Modern Ecosystems in the Holocene. Proc. Russ. Sci. Conf., February 2–3, 2006), Moscow: KMK, 2006, pp. 231–238.

  54. Torop, S.O., Tarpan, wild horse (Equus gmelini), 2011. https://bizslovo.org/content/index.php/ua/plavni/65-tvarynny-svit/802-tarpan.html. Cited April 23, 2023.

  55. Turghan, M.A., Jiang, Z., and Niu, Z., An update on status and conservation of the Przewalski’s horse (Equus ferus przewalskii): Captive breeding and reintroduction projects, Animals, 2022, vol. 12, p. 3158. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12223158

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  56. Tyurin, A.N., Przewalski’s horse reintroduction in the state natural reserve “Orenburgsky”: The first results, Samarskii Nauchnyi Vestnik, 2019, vol. 8, no. 1 (26), pp. 115–119.

  57. Volkov, P.V., Buravleva, E.S., Lbova, L.V., and Parkhomchuk, E.V., Petroglyph “White Horse” in the Minusinsk Basin (attribution, experiment, discussion), Vestn. Novosibirsk. Gos. Univ. Ser.: Istor., Filol., 2019, vol. 18, no. 7, pp. 57–73.

    Google Scholar 

  58. Wakefield, S., Knowles, J., Zimmermann, W., and van Dierendonck, M., Status and action plan for the Przewalski’s horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), in Equids: Zebras, Asses, and Horses: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan, Moehlman, P., Ed., Gland Switzerland und Cambridge: IUCN, 2002, pp. 82–92.

  59. Zevegmid, D. and Dawaa, N., Die seltenen Großsäuger der Mongolischen Volksrepublik und ihr Schutz, Archiv für Naturschutz und Landschaftsforschung (Berlin), 1973, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 87–106.

    Google Scholar 

  60. Zimmermann, W., Przewalski’s horses on the track to reintroduction – Various projects compared, Zeitschrift des Kölner Zoo, 2005, vol. 48, no. 4, pp. 183–209.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors express their sincere gratitude to N.N. Spasskaya and P. Kaczensky for their advice and information, which were very useful to us in preparing this report.

Funding

The work was carried out on the topic of research work of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, state order No. FFER-2024-0022 Fundamentals of Wildlife Conservation and Rational Nature Management.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Problems of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071, Moscow, Russia

    A. A. Lushchekina, T. Yu. Karimova & V. M. Neronov

Authors
  1. A. A. Lushchekina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. T. Yu. Karimova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. V. M. Neronov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. A. Lushchekina.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interests. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Translated by L. A. Solovyova

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lushchekina, A.A., Karimova, T.Y. & Neronov, V.M. Following the Pages of the Red Book of Russia: The Przewalski’s Horse. Arid Ecosyst 13, 452–460 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079096123040054

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079096123040054

Keywords:

Search

Navigation