The long journey back to the wild: The return of Przewalski’s horses

Przewalski's horses in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region [Photo: courtesy of the Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding and Researching Center]

Przewalski's horses in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region [Photo: courtesy of the Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding and Researching Center]

In the vast steppe of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, small herds of Przewalski's horses, the world's last surviving wild horse species, roam the Kalamaili Nature Reserve.

They search for food and water, navigate harsh weather and gallop freely across the open land, sending clouds of dust into the air. The scene would have been impossible to witness just two decades ago.

After disappearing from the wild in China by the 1970s, the horses have gradually returned through four decades of conservation efforts, with their population growing both in captivity and in the wild. The challenge now is shifting from rebuilding population to ensuring their long-term survival.

Learning to live wild again
In 1985, China brought 11 Przewalski's horses from Germany and the United Kingdom to Xinjiang and established the Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding and Research Center to to help the species recover. The first foal was born at the center three years later. By 2000, around 100 foals had been born there.

Keeping the horses alive and increasing their numbers was only the beginning. The ultimate goal was to return them to the wild, where survival would depend on more than human care.

In 2001, 27 Przewalski's horses were released directly into the Kalamaili Nature Reserve in the Junggar Basin. Without a preparatory period, the attempt proved unsuccessful: three horses died after struggling to adapt to the sudden change. Harsh weather, scarce food and water, and competition among stallions all posed challenges to survival.

Zhang Yanbao, who monitored the horses for seven years after their first release in 2001, remembers a story from the early days of the reintroduction.

A mare and her three offspring were released into the wild together. When the mare died, her two daughters stayed close to their younger brother and protected him when conflicts arose within the herd.

The young stallion, known as No. 147, faced another challenge as he matured. Dominant stallions typically drive away younger males once they become rivals for mates. But No. 147 remained in his herd longer than expected.

“His sisters shielded him whenever he needed and kept him close. With their support, the young stallion grew strong and healthy. In the same year he was finally driven from the herd, he succeeded in forming a group of his own with mares, which was a remarkable achievement,” Zhang says.

The early setbacks helped shape a more gradual approach to reintroduction. Today, the wild horses selected for release spend about six months to a year in a transitional area covering roughly 20 square kilometers within the reserve. There, they learn to find food and water, become familiar with the landscape and adjust to life with less human assistance.

At the breeding center, the horses are fed twice a day. In the transitional area, food is provided only once every three to five days, encouraging them to forage more independently.

“Horses have very keen senses,” says Xue Jiannan, an animal science engineer at the center. “Even before leaving the enclosure, they can detect where grass and water are more abundant outside. They also seem to know how far they’ll need to travel to reach those places.”

Even with this preparation, survival is not guaranteed. In winter, heavy snowfall can bury grass beneath the snow, while insufficient snowfall can leave water sources frozen. Rangers monitor the herds and intervene when necessary, providing food or water during extreme weather and calling veterinarians when injuries or illnesses threaten an animal’s life.

Entemahan Azhanhan (middle) gives treatment to the stallion injured during a fight with another stallion. [Photo:courtesy of Entemahan Azhanhan]

One particularly urgent case in 2016 remains vivid for Entemahan Azhanhan, a senior veterinarian at the breeding center. Two stallions had fought fiercely, and one bit the other’s genitals. The wound became infected, leaving the injured horse unable to walk when it was found. Entemahan knew he had to act quickly.

“After administering anesthesia, I removed the infected tissue and stitched the wound. For ten days, we treated him with topical medication, anti-inflammatory injections and painkillers. Thankfully, the stallion survived and retained his ability to reproduce,” he recalls.

The protection, however, is not to shield the horses from every danger, but to give them the best chance of surviving on their own. By January 2026, about 180 Przewalski’s horses raised under human care had been returned to the wild in Xinjiang.

The people behind the return
Protecting wild horses in the remote reserve can be as demanding as the conditions the animals face.

In the early 2000s, monitoring equipment was limited and digital communications unreliable in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve. Rangers often worked in pairs, tracking animals across a vast landscape where wolves and other dangers were never far away.

Zhang Yanbao still remembers a summer afternoon when his vehicle broke down in the reserve. He and his colleague could not repair it, and remaining there overnight was not an option as there were many nocturnal predators.

They set off on foot.
“We ran for seven hours straight, without resting or drinking water,” Zhang says. “I never imagined I could run for so long.”

They eventually reached a herdsman’s home at around 11 p.m., where they were given food and water. After a short rest, they continued walking for another hour or two before finally leaving the reserve.

Today, technology has made monitoring easier. The team uses camera traps, thermal cameras, drones and GPS-enabled collars to track the horses’ movements. Collars fitted to lead mares use China’s BeiDou satellite navigation system to help researchers understand where herds spend their time.

Yet technology has not replaced the value of experience. Rangers still draw on years of observation to locate the horses, assess their condition and decide when intervention is necessary.

For Entemahan, the connection with the animals began long before he became a veterinarian. Raised in a herdsman’s family, he grew up around horses and learned from his parents how to care for them.

The center discourages staff from forming overly close relationships with the horses, helping preserve their natural wariness of humans. For Entemahan, however, such emotional attachment is difficult to avoid.

He remembers a night in 1999 when a mare gave birth to a foal that could not open his eyes. As he tried to help the newborn, the mare became protective, biting and kicking at him until he scrambled over a fence to escape injury.

Three or four years later, he took part in releasing that same mare into the wild. As the team prepared to let her go, she lingered near their vehicle, seemingly reluctant to leave.

Entemahan wondered whether she remembered the man who had helped her foal. The moment stayed with him.

He had spent years caring for the animals, yet the purpose of that care was to prepare them to live beyond it.

“I worried whether they could adapt, whether they would find enough food and water. But at the same time, they are returning to their true home. It’s such a relief seeing them run freely across the steppe,” Entemahan said.

Protecting a future in the wild
The return of Przewalski’s horses depends not only on preparing individual animals but also on protecting the landscape they inhabit.

The Kalamaili Nature Reserve covers more than 14,000 square kilometers, spanning Gobi and desert terrain. The region is rich in resources including coal, oil and gold. Oil wells and mining sites once dotted parts of the landscape.

To improve conditions for wildlife, more than 280 oil wells had been sealed and the land restored to grassland by the end of 2018, according to the conservation team.

Habitat restoration is only one part of the work. The population must also retain enough genetic diversity to remain healthy over generations.

Between 1985 and 2005, the center introduced 24 Przewalski’s horses from countries including the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. These additions helped broaden the genetic pool.

Today, breeding decisions are informed by DNA analysis of hair and fecal samples, which allows researchers to assess how closely related potential breeding pairs are.

The center has reduced the coefficient of relatedness used in its breeding decisions from around 0.2 to 0.01 or lower, according to Xue Jiannan.

The team is also studying artificial insemination, which could make it possible to introduce new bloodlines without transporting live horses over long distances.

The effort reflects a shift in priorities. In the early years, increasing the population was the main objective. Now, the focus is increasingly on maintaining genetic diversity and ensuring that the horses can sustain healthy populations over time.

The progress has been substantial. China’s Przewalski’s horse population now exceeds 900, accounting for about one-third of the global population. Roughly 560 live in Xinjiang, in both captive and wild settings.

The long-term goal is to establish a population capable of surviving and reproducing in the wild, with minimal intervention.

For Xue Jiannan, seeing the wild horses in the nature reserve is a tangible sign of their conservation efforts.

“When I see wild horses running freely on the steppe, or drinking at a water hole not far from us, that’s when I truly understand the meaning of what we’ve done,” Xue said.

His greatest hope is also the simplest: that one day the breeding and research center will no longer be needed to protect an endangered species.

“That will be the moment we know our mission is complete and that we have done our job well.”

Protecting biodiversity beyond Przewalski’s horses

The return of Przewalski’s horses to the wild is one example of the broader effort required to protect biodiversity: restoring habitats, safeguarding threatened species and ensuring that ecosystems can sustain life over the long term.

That challenge is also at the center of the 17^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), being held in Yerevan, Armenia, from October 19 to 30.

The conference marks the first global review of progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022, which sets 23 targets for 2030. The review aims to assess how far countries have come and what more is needed to meet their commitments.

Among the framework’s key goals is conserving at least 30% of the world’s land, inland waters, coastal and marine areas by 2030. It also calls for urgent action to halt human-induced extinctions, recover threatened species and reduce human-wildlife conflict.

At the opening ceremony of the “China Corner” at COP17, China’s minister of ecology and environment Huang Runqiu noted that despite growing international commitment, progress remains insufficient to meet global biodiversity targets. He has called on countries to take concrete action and pursue more transformative measures to accelerate implementation.

The experience of Przewalski’s horses illustrates what such efforts require on the ground. Reintroducing a species is only the beginning. Its long-term survival depends on suitable habitats, continued monitoring and the ability to withstand the pressures of life in the wild.

As countries work toward the 2030 biodiversity targets, the challenge is not simply to make commitments, but to turn them into lasting results for wildlife and the ecosystems on which all life depends.