The existence of wild horses in the steppes of Asia has been known in Europe since the 15th century. But it was not until 1881 when the species was formally described to science from a skull and skin collected by Russian colonel Nikolai Przewalski. This is how the horses known as takhi (“holy”) in Mongolia were renamed Przewalski’s horses (Equus ferus przewalski).
For many decades they were considered the last truly wild horse in the world. However, recent studies have indicated they are actually feral forms descended from the first horses domesticated by the Botai people in northern Kazakhstan 5,500 years ago. In Colonel Przewalski’s time these wild horses were already rare in the steppes of Mongolia and China. Overgrazing and hunting for consumption by human populations caused its final decline.
The last wild individual was spotted in the Gobi Desert in 1969. The situation was not great for the captive population either. In the 1950s, only 12 survived in European zoos. However, they were the foundation for a captive breeding program that has managed to rescue the species from extinction.