Wild horses return to Kazakhstan steppes after absence of two centuries

The Przewalski’s horses’ grazing will benefit pollinators, small mammals and ground-nesting birds, helping restore the steppes ecosystem. Photograph: D Rosengren/Global Rewilding Alliance

A group of the world’s last wild horses have returned to their native Kazakhstan after an absence of about 200 years. The seven horses, four mares from Berlin and a stallion and two other mares from Prague, were flown to the central Asian country on a Czech air force transport plane.

The wild horses, known as Przewalski’s horses, once roamed the vast steppe grasslands of central Asia, where horses are believed to have been first domesticated about 5,500 years ago.