The Mongolian wild horse located in the Temperate Animal Area of the Taipei Zoo is currently the only truly wild horse species remaining in the world. Once widely distributed across the grasslands of Europe and Asia, this wild horse species was officially declared extinct in the wild in 1969 due to factors including climate change, overhunting, habitat destruction, and hybridization with domestic horses, marking a significant warning in the history of global conservation.
Fortunately, before the disappearance of wild populations, some zoos had already initiated breeding and conservation efforts, establishing ex-situ populations from a limited number of remaining individuals. After decades of population management and breeding work, Mongolian wild horses began to be reintroduced to their original habitats on the Mongolian grasslands in the 1990s, including areas such as Hustai National Park, gradually rebuilding wild populations. As population numbers increased, the International Union for Conservation of Nature adjusted the species' conservation status from “Extinct in the Wild” to “Endangered,” demonstrating the tangible results of international conservation cooperation.
The Mongolian wild horse has a robust build, short upright mane, and dark tail hair, and its chromosome count differs from that of domestic horses, making it an important species for studying equine evolution. Its recovery journey highlights how global zoos and conservation institutions, through integrated in-situ and ex-situ conservation, can create critical opportunities for endangered species to return to the wild.
In celebration of the Lunar Year of the Horse, Taipei Zoo has scheduled regular interpretive sessions at 11:00 a.m. every Thursday from January to February in front of the Mongolian wild horse exhibit in the Temperate Animal Area. Visitors are invited to hear keepers share key stories of the Mongolian wild horse's journey from extinction in the wild to successful recovery, and to learn about the role and value of zoos in wildlife conservation. (Sessions will be suspended on national holidays and during the Lunar New Year period.)
