SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Zoo Safari Park welcomed a young Przewalski’s horse, a critically endangered horse born this month to mother Nikki and father Ziggy.
San Diego Zoo Safari Park said the youngster was born through a pairing recommended by the Association of Zoo and Aquariums’ Przewalski’s Horse Species Survival Plan—a program that ensures healthy and genetically diverse Przewalski’s horse populations, overseen by conservationists nationwide.
Sometimes referred to as “the last wild horse,” Przewalski’s horse is a critically endangered species that was considered extinct in the wild until 1996.
"The species has survived for the past 40 years almost entirely in zoos around the world, and ongoing reintroductions of Przewalski’s horses into their native habitats have established several herds in grasslands in China and Mongolia," San Diego Zoo Safari Park said in a press release.
“It’s really a wonderful story about an amazing species,” said Oliver Ryder, Ph.D., Director of Conservation Genetics at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. “It's really a new era in managing populations for sustainability and for their long-term persistence,” said Ryder.
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