Wild Przewalski’s Horses Return to the Kazakh Steppe After Two Centuries

The Przewalski’s horse — known in Kazakhstan as the kertagy — is the only truly wild horse species never domesticated by humans, and for decades it survived only in zoos and breeding centers. In June 2025, that story took another hopeful turn when a second group of seven horses was flown to the Altyn-Dala State Nature Reserve in the Kostanai Region, joining the first group of seven that arrived in June 2024. Together they form the founding herd of a long-planned effort to bring the species back to the Central Asian steppe where it last roamed roughly two centuries ago.

The animals were transported from Prague Zoo in the Czech Republic and Hortobagy National Park in Hungary, carried by military aircraft for the long journey east. On arrival, the horses are settled into spacious acclimatization enclosures at the reserve’s ungulate reintroduction center, where veterinarians and scientists monitor their health and behavior before they are eventually released onto the open steppe. Reintroduction teams aim to build a self-sustaining wild population, with around forty-five horses planned over the course of the program.

“In June 2025, that story took another hopeful turn when a second group of seven horses was flown to the Altyn-Dala State Nature Reserve in the Kostanai Region, joining the first group of seven that arrived in June 2024.”

The Altyn-Dala initiative is a partnership that spans countries and institutions, including Prague Zoo, the Frankfurt Zoological Society, the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan, and Kazakhstan’s Forestry and Wildlife Committee, among others. Prague Zoo, which keeps the international studbook for the species, handles much of the complex logistics of moving the animals safely across thousands of kilometers, with annual transports planned through the late 2020s.

The return of the kertagy is about far more than a single species. Large grazing animals shape the steppe ecosystem, influencing the structure of grasslands and supporting a web of other wildlife, from saiga antelope to ground-nesting birds. By restoring the wild horse to Altyn-Dala — a name that means “golden steppe” — conservationists hope to help heal one of the planet’s great grassland landscapes. For a species that came perilously close to vanishing forever, the sight of wild horses once again standing on the Kazakh plains is a powerful reminder that careful, patient conservation can turn the clock back toward recovery.