STORY: :: Prague Zoo/David Rauch

These are the world’s last wild horses.

Przewalski’s horses, named after the Russian geographer who discovered them, once roamed across Central Asia.

:: Altyn Dala, Kazakhstan

But they disappeared entirely from the wild by the end of the 1960s, remaining only in captivity.

Now, thanks to an ambitious international effort…

they’re being reintroduced to their original habitats.

This is the Golden Steppe region of central Kazakhstan, a vast area of grassland and wetlands covering some 2,700 square miles.

Przewalski’s horses haven’t lived here for nearly 200 years.

In early June, the Czech Republic’s Prague Zoo returned seven horses to the area.

The stallion and six mares were transported first by Czech military planes, and then several hours by truck, accompanied by zoo keepers.

Scientist Albert Salemgareyev says reintroducing the horses will help the country’s conservation efforts because they eat a wide variety of grasses and spread the seeds.

:: Albert Salemgareyev, Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan

“For scientists, yeah, it’s also quite important to have these wild horses in the central Kazakhstan… // …to distribute, you know, non-native or not common plants in the steppe, and also prevent the fire.”

Efforts to reintroduce Przewalski’s horses in China and western Mongolia have already been successful…

where the population has reached 850.

In Kazakhstan, the horses will stay in an acclimatization enclosure for a year to learn how to find water and food during the steppe’s harsh winters.

The zoo plans to move approximately 40 more horses in the next five years.