Przewalski's horse population exceeds 900 in China

The Przewalski's horse has 66 chromosomes, one more pair than domestic horses. It carries a primitive genetic code from 60 million years ago, earning it the title of "living fossil of biological genes." After other wild horse subspecies went extinct, the Przewalski's horse was recognized as the last remaining wild horse on Earth. In the 1970s, China declared that Przewalski's horse had disappeared from the wild.

This marked the beginning of the "Wild Horse Return Program" that would last more than 40 years. In 1985, China officially launched the "Wild Horse Return Program." Twenty four horses were brought back to the Kalamaili Ungulate Nature Reserve in Xinjiang, ending the era when the horses' homeland had no wild horses.

On March 8, 1988, the Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding Research Center (now the Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding Research Institute), which serves as the reserve's management center, welcomed its first healthy foal. The foal was named "Junggar No. 1."

The state assigned the wild horse breeding research center a target of breeding 80 horses by 2000. In fact, the breeding population had already reached 100 by then. After expert evaluation, the Przewalski's horses were considered ready for release into the wild. On August 28, 2001, 27 horses rushed out of their enclosure and stepped into the vast Junggar Desert.

Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and other regions have also taken part in protecting and releasing Przewalski's horses. Through years of practice, Chinese researchers have developed a three-step approach involving captive breeding, semi-free range training, and soft release, gaining valuable experience for the conservation of endangered species. By the end of 2025, China's Przewalski's horse population had exceeded 900, with a breeding survival rate leading the world.

(Source: People’s Daily, Reporter: Li Yanan)