What is a Przewalski's Horse?

The Przewalski's Horse, (Equus ferus ssp.przewalskii) is a subspecies of "Wild Horse" (Equus ferus). They are very rare, and according to the International Union of Conservation for Nature or the ICUN Red List, they are the only surviving member of that species. They are listed with a status of "critically endangered", with a population trend posted as "increasing". This subspecies had been listed as "extinct" from the 1960's through the late 1990's, when they were reassessed and found that a reintroduction had been successful leaving roughly 50 mature horses living free in the wild for over 5 years. Starting in 1976 the US Fish and Wildlife Services (US FWS), Endangered Species List posted the Przewalski's Horse as "endangered", and CITES listed the horse for protection under appendix I in 1975. Some assume that the Przewalski's Horse was the ancestor to the modern horse, but DNA testing, combined with other tests shows that, even though they are very closely related, they are a separate, and distinct species population. This is still under debate, even though many of the endangered species sites are working with the newest findings. Their native habitat is the steppes of China and Mongolia, and the species was reintroduced back into a Mongolian National Park, the "Takhin Tal Nature Reserve and Khomiin Tal" at the Khustain Nuruu National Park. This horse is stocky with shorter legs than the average horse. They are about 13 hands tall, their coat is tan to dun colored becoming lighter around the belly, and the mane is short and stands straight while their tail hair is shorter too, and they have no forelock. Their legs are lightly striped, and they molt, or shed all the hair from their tail and mane once a year. FOr more details, please see the sites listed below.