With the alias of Equus Przewalskyi, it belongs to the Eqiodae family of Perissodactyla order. It Latin scientific name is Equus przeqalskii, and English name is Wild Horse.
It is a large-size ungulate, with 220 to 280 centimeters in body length, more than 120 centimeters in shoulder height, and over 200 kilograms in body weight. It has long and large head, thick neck, and wide and round hoofs. Its summer hair is light brown, with both sides of the body and inner sides of four limbs in light colors, and the belly in milky yellow; its winter hair is slightly long and thick in lighter color, with russet long hair on two cheeks.
The key distinction between wild horses and home horsesEquusprzewalskiiis that, Wild Horse has proportionally larger head, smaller ears, and white mouth, with short bristling mane on the neck, no forelock on the forehead.
It inhabits at the smooth slope of the upland meadow, desert and Gobi with better water and grass conditions. Wild Horse is alert and good at running. Leading a traveling life, generally it lives in groups of 5 to 20 led by a strong male horse. It mostly goes to fount and brook side for drinking water in the morning and dusk following fixed routes. It is fond of eating grass and reeds, and in winter it can dig out snow covering to look for wilted hay as food. Its estrus and mating period is in June, with littering period in April to May of the next year. It has one baby per fetus, and the foal can run following the group several hours after birth. Under breeding condition, it has a lifespan of about 30 years, with the longest of 34 years.
Originally Wild Horse was distributed in the area of BaytikMountain in Junggar Basin of northern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Mazong Mountain at the trans-border of Gansu Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It is estimated that wild population is already extinct, since it was last found in 1957. At present a certain quantity of wild horses still live in techno-sphere fostering or half loose keeping state. Since late 1980s, wild horses have been introduced from Europe into Qitai County of Xinjiang Autonomous Region and Wuwei of Gansu Province in China under half loose keeping, for scientific experiments and research in order to let wild horses return to nature.
Wild Horse has been listed inAppendix I ofInternational Trade Convention on Endangered Wild Animal and Plant Species.
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