Endangered Przewalski’s horses return to wild thanks to Marwell Zoo's conservation efforts
Two horses have been released into the wild
Two endangered horses on the brink of extinction have been released in the wild as Marwell continues its conservation work.
Shara and Togs, two female Przewalski’s horses born and raised at Marwell Zoo, have been returned to the wild in Kazakhstan as part of ongoing international efforts to prevent the species from going extinct again.
The horses’ return to the wild is a huge step forward in Marwell’s long-standing work with the species which has been classified as ‘Endangered’ by IUCN in 2011.
Shara and Togs first travelled to Berlin, where they joined a larger group of horses who were also earmarked for release in Kazakhstan.
The reintroduction is part of the ‘Return of the Wild Horses’ project lead by the Prague Zoo with European partners Tierpark Berlin, the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK) and Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS), among others.
Ian Goodwin, animal operations manager from Marwell Zoo, said: “We are proud to have played our part in bringing these incredibly special horses back to the wild, where not that long ago they were extinct.
“They were one of the very first species at the zoo when it opened in 1972, so we have been working with them for more than 50 years. Thanks to our strong breeding success, we’re able to play an active role in rebuilding wild populations where they belong.”
Previously declared to be Extinct in the Wild on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List in 1969, the horses have made a remarkable comeback thanks to dedicated breeding and reintroduction programmes led by conservation organisations across Europe, including Marwell Wildlife.