In late August 2026, two Przewalski's horse foals were born in the steppes of central Kazakhstan — an event the local steppes had not seen for more than two hundred years. Both males were born in the enclosure of the Alibi reintroduction centre in the Altyn-Dala Nature Reserve: the first on 22 August to a seven-year-old mare named Tessa, the second on 31 August to a mare named Umbra. Their common sire, the stallion Zorro, unfortunately did not live to see this moment.
Przewalski's horse, or kertagy in Kazakh (Equus ferus przewalskii), is the only surviving wild relative of the domestic horse. In the past it inhabited vast steppe expanses from Russia to Mongolia and northern China, acting as a true ecosystem engineer: by eating dry vegetation it reduced the risk of fires, its hooves loosened the soil and it spread seeds. By the middle of the 19th century the population in Kazakhstan had disappeared — colonisation, ploughing of the land, hunting and interbreeding with domestic horses all took their toll.
Today the species is officially recognised as having been extinct in the wild until recently, and now as endangered according to the IUCN classification. The revival became possible thanks to European zoos: over the past three years, 22 individuals were brought to Kazakhstan from Prague Zoo and Tierpark Berlin. The goal is to bring the number up to forty in order to form a self-sustaining population.
The birth of the foals in the conditions of the Altyn-Dala Nature Reserve, where saiga and kulan populations are also being successfully restored, became important proof of the animals' adaptation to the local climate and territory. According to Alyona Krivosheyeva, Director of Conservation at the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan, this is direct evidence of the success of the reintroduction. Now specialists face a new task — to monitor the growth and development of the first generation born on Kazakh soil.
This case is a reminder of how finely the fates of species and human decisions are intertwined: from destruction to deliberate return. The steppe, once emptied, is gradually regaining its former inhabitants, whose activity maintains the balance of the entire ecosystem.
The success of the project shows that even after a long interruption nature is capable of recovering, if humans move from exploitation to conscious support.
