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Mongolia's Przewalski's Horse
Mongolia's Wild Horses brought back from extinction
Breed Characteristics
The Przewalski is a heavily built horse. It stands typically between 12 and 14 hands. Its color is beige-brown or dun with a light colored muzzle. It has a black stripe over its back, called "eel-stripe" and stripes across its legs like a zebra. It has an upright mane, which unlike a Fjord pony's, does not fall over if it is not cut. The mane stops between the ears, hence the Przewalski horse has no forelock. The tail of the Przewalski is also different from the domestic horse. In the domestic horse the hairs on the tail start at the top, tight where the tail is implanted on the body, but the Przewalski horse, as in the asses, the dock hairs are short and the longer hairs only start lower down. In a sandstorm he would turn his head with eyes and nose away from the fierce wind and the driven sand grains and protect the vulnerable parts of his rear with the tail. The mane and tail are dark in color.
Some authorities believe the Przewalski is a direct ancestor of the modern day domesticated horse. Others contend this is not possible as the Przewalski is a different species having sixty-six chromosomes while the domestic horse carries sixty-four. It is possible to cross the Przewalski with the domestic horse, and the resulting hybrid is fertile; however this offspring has sixty-five chromosomes. When crossed again to the domestic horse, the new generation returns to sixty-four chromosomes and little influence of the Przewalski horse is evident.
The Przewalski horse is a social animal like steppe zebra's and domestic horses, which means they live in groups. There are two kinds of social groups, family and bachelor. A family group generally consists of a stallion plus three or four mares, with their foals and some yearlings. As the name implies, a bachelor group consists of stallions only, mostly led by a somewhat older stallion. Each group covers a specific area or home range during day to day activities. The major requirements of a group within a home range are food, water and shelter. These resources can be found in different parts of their home range with the change of seasons. These resources may be shared with other groups as well. Then the home ranges of more than one group may overlap.
There are Przewalski’s Horse Reserves located reasonably close to Ulan Batoor. Check at the many internet café’s and coffee shops in UB for details and fees – as restricted and protected areas you require a permit to visit. The chances of seeing horses nowadays are suprisingly good.
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