A herd of rare Przewalski’s horses grazes in the vast expanses of the Hortobágy National Park in Hungary. They disappeared from the wild in the last century. Experts had to turn to a breeding program. Now there are approximately 2,000 Przewalski’s horses in the world. About 300 live in this reserve.
Hungarian scientists have been observing animals for 20 years. Now they are being helped by drones. This makes research easier and is cheaper than equipping all horses with GPS trackers.
Scientists use two drones. One rises high to photograph the entire herd. This will help analyze his movements. The second one flies low. This way you can identify each horse. Researchers are also studying the social structure of the herd. At first, family groups of horses kept a great distance from each other. However, in recent years they have been living in one large herd. At the same time, mares communicate more with horses from their family group. And schools of stallion brothers also stay closer to each other. Usually such manifestations are observed among monkeys. This is rare for other animal species.
Przewalski’s horses are still listed in the Red Book. All modern specimens are descended from eleven wild horses captured in the last century in northwest China and one domestic horse. A limited gene pool makes breeding difficult.
Previously, Przewalski’s horses were found in forest-steppes, steppes and semi-deserts of Europe, Kazakhstan and Siberia. Perhaps one day they will return to their former meta habitats.
