Comments on: Replica Cryptia: Przewalski’s Horses

By: CvD

CvD — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 08:42:17 +0000

I’ve seen them in their natural habitat in Mongolia. They were reintroduced in Hustai National Park in 1992. At this moment the population in Hustai numbers about 200 individuals.
There are also some herds reintroduced in the Gobi.

Beautiful to see them roam the Mongolian steppes again!

By: Cryptonut

Cryptonut — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 04:46:07 +0000

I’ve seen them at the San Diego Wild Animal Park….they are absolutely beautiful!

By: DrRob1967

DrRob1967 — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 05:59:23 +0000

We have these at the Denver zoo and they have several versions of such–plastic toys, stuffed plush toys etc. in the gift shop.

I understand this breed barely exists in the wild, but are common in zoos.

Only other ’striped’ horses I’ve seen are domestic ‘buckskins’ which sound like that Kiger mustang.

By: Galen

Galen — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:40:58 +0000

Munnin, the history of the polish konik breed began in 1923, before the second world war. It was polish professior, Tadeusz Vetulani who tried to re-create wild horse, tarpan, using the most primitive local horses, firstly in Janow Podlaskim, then in Krzemieniec. In 1936 the breeding program in Bialowieza began. Germans had nothing to do with polish konik.

By: dogu4

dogu4 — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 22:46:35 +0000

I just googled those Kiger mustangs and the images are pretty interesting. With all the recent revelations regarding the complex interactions of the genes and their expressions, I’ve wondered if there weren’t something epigenetic with some traits; something environmental maybe which modifies the degree to which the genes are expressed.
All the more reason to release elephants into lands where their ancestors once thived and see if they begin to retain and/or produce more hair or more prominent tusks.

By: nanorex

nanorex — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:06:54 +0000

Prszewalski horses may be a link to the past but how about a wild US mustang that is breeding backward to a more primal coloring. Here is some info on a breed of mustang discovered in 1977 in Oregon, this is a established breed”, that is, breeding true.
from Wikipedia
“Kiger Mustangs are primarily dun in color and have primitive markings, including zebra-like stripes on the upper legs and shoulders as well as stripe running down the middle of the back into the tail—this is called a dorsal stripe. Typically a dun horse is a shade of muted tan or a light brown-gray with dark brown or black manes. A dun colored horse may have many, but not all, of the primitive markings which include the dorsal stripe, two-toned manes and/or tails, zebra-like stripes on the upper legs and shoulders, dark color around muzzle and ears with dark outlines and lighter interiors. Dun horses are generally identified as simply duns or grullas”

By: Munnin

Munnin — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:01:37 +0000

Thanks for the very interesting article, Mr. C. This reminds of something I read recently in Smithsonian magazine, about the Bialowieza National Park on the border between Poland and Belarus. There are horses living in essentially wild conditions there, and they closely resemble the now extinct wild horse called the Tarpan, the last individual of which perished in 1887 in a Moscow zoo. The horses in Bialowieza are apprently descended from individuals that were the result of a WWII era German breeding program, where an attempt was made to re-create the Tarpan by crossbreeding horses whose ancestors had interbred with Tarpans in the 18th and 19th centuries. The article appears currently at Smithsonian Magazine’s internet site.

These Prezwalski’s horses, though, are the real deal. Very interesting.

By: dogu4

dogu4 — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:59:59 +0000

These re-constituted populations of extinct megafauna are excellent candidates for the proposed re-introduction of keystone species which once inhabited our continent. If you haven’t checked out Josh Donlon’s “Re-wilding America” site, you will be in for a delightful surprise. Equally surprising is that there is a nascent segment of people around the world who are taking a second look at re-wilding efforts, everywhere, even in Europe. It’s been too long that we’ve accepted the received wisdom of those who say that extinction was inevitable such a short time ago. While we can’t actually turn back the hands of time, we can approximate and by use of surrogates return the more fully functional lanscape from which we derive so much of what makes us who we are.

By: harleyb

harleyb — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 02:42:13 +0000

I’m going to the ICM as soon as I can woo hoo!! It might be a few months though.

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 01:18:15 +0000

Cute little critters. Thanks for the information. Definite stocking stuffer.