Przewalski’s horses are roaming Spain’s Iberian Highlands again after an absence of more than 10,000 years, as a rewilding project uses the animals’ natural grazing to reshape a landscape increasingly vulnerable to wildfires. The horses were released in Villanueva de Alcorón, Guadalajara province, as part of an effort by Rewilding Spain to restore the ecological role once played by large wild herbivores. Their grazing and trampling reduce vegetation and forest biomass, while helping create a more varied landscape of woodland and open pasture. The return of the horses follows their near-extinction in the 20th century and represents a new stage in efforts to restore natural processes across the Iberian Highlands. According to Rewilding Spain, an environmental conservation initiative, the animals can help improve pasture quality and support biodiversity, while reducing the amount of combustible vegetation. The project is an opportunity for visitors to observe horses living freely in Western Europe.
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