Mammal Guide -- Temperate Grassland

This horse is named for the nineteenth-century Russian explorer who first identified the species.

It is thought to be the only purebred wild horse still in existence.

Originally found over a vast area of desert and steppe in Mongolia and adjacent countries, it may now be extinct in the wild. The last confirmed sighting was in 1968.

There are plans to reintroduce zoobred animals into its former range.

It probably lived in herds of fifteen to twenty mares and young led by one stallion, with separate bachelor herds of up to one hundred.

The young are weaned at two years and they live for thirty or so years.

Animal Facts

Name: Przewalski's Horse (Equus caballus)

Family: Equidae (Horses)

Range: Formerly Mongolia, southern Siberia, Kazakhstan, and Sinkiang

Habitat: Desert and steppe

Diet: Grasses, plants, fruit, bark, leaves, and buds

Head and Body Length: 7 to 9 feet (2.2 to 2.8 m)

Tail Length: 3 to 4 inches (7 to 10 cm)

Weight: 440 to 660 pounds (200 to 300 kg)

Life Cycle: Mating in spring or summer; gestation 335 days, one foal born April to June that is weaned at two years of age; maximum life span thirty-four years

Description: Reddish-brown coat; yellowish-white underneath; massive head with long face; long, erect ears; short neck; stiff, blackish mane; stocky build; short, slender legs

Conservation Status: Not listed by the IUCN.