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Days in Horse Country – Przewalski’s Horse
Wild horses roamed the plains of North America and Europe
during the last Ice Age, and became extinct some 30,000 years ago. But you can still get a glimpse of what that
prehistoric equine looked like if you take a gander at Przewailski’s Horse.
This endangered equine is actually extinct in the wild and can only be found in zoos and preserves. About the size of a pony, Przewalski’s Horse comes in various shades of dun, and has a Mohawk-style mane and stripes on the legs. This ancient horse has sixty-six chromosomes instead of sixty-four, like the domestic horse.
They live in harem herds, which are made up of one dominant stallion and a group of mares, just like feral horses do.
Scientists have learned a lot about horse behaviour by observing Przewalski’s Horse, who most recently existed in the wild in Mongolia until its numbers were wiped out by hunting and loss of habitat. Przewalksi’s Horse exhibits the same vices as domestic horses when kept in confinement, such a pacing and cribbing, and it has the same type of social structure within the herd as feral horses do.
Michael