Three ongoing reintroduction sites are being monitored in Mongolia, including community integration and support. Przewalski's horses are legally protected in Mongolia, where hunting has been prohibited since 1930. An international studbook was established in 1959, which later became the Species Survival Plan. In 1945, there were once again less than 20 breeding Przewalski's horses in the world. The species went through a second round of bottlenecking during World War II. Species that are reduced to such small populations can lose much of their genetic diversity, which in turn can make adults less fertile and young less likely to survive. The Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is heavily involved in saving Przewalski's horses, including through reproductive research, genetic management of the North American herd, global genetic management, reintroduction and capacity building. Of the approximately 1,900 Przewalski's horses alive today, all are descended from 14 founders that were caught in the wild between 19. Through breeding programs, Zoos have been instrumental in preventing the Przewalski's horse from dying out altogether.
The loss of habitat is mainly due to to illegal mining and military disturbances. Today, their primary threats include habitat degradation, climate change, low genetic diversity, hybridizing and disease transmission. The number of Przewalski's horses dwindled due to human interference, including cultural and political changes, as well as military presence, poaching and capture. Prior to reintroduction programs, Przewalski's horses were last seen in the wild during the 1960s in the Gobi Desert, which accounts for roughly the southern third of Mongolia. Their restoration and conservation continues to be a significant goal for global conservation and for preserving what remains of the world’s ancient wild horses. These horses ranged freely in wild populations well into the 20th century and are integral to a healthy steppe ecosystem. As such, Przewalski’s horses remain the “best of the rest” of the true wild horses. Rather, they are unique descendants of horses within the Botai/Borly clade and represent genetic diversity that is no longer found among horses. There is no strong evidence that Przewalski’s horses are feral descendants of domestic ancestors. Asian elephants offer a modern illustration of this distinction, as they have been tamed for use as draft and war animals for thousands of years but are not domesticated animals. However, Botai horses form a clade (or group of organisms with a common ancestor) distinct from domestic horses, meaning it is possible that Botai horses were tamed but not domesticated. They point to this relationship as evidence that Przewalski’s horses may have been domesticated. The new data highlights a close genetic relationship between Przewalski’s horses and Botai horses, the latter of which some scientists consider to be the first domesticated species. Przewalski’s horses have long been considered the last surviving wild horse species, but a recent study has raised speculations. It is a land of extremes, as summer temperatures can soar to 104° Fahrenheit (40° C) while winter temperatures can plunge to 50 below zero (-28° C). Mongolia is an Alaska-sized country sandwiched between China and the former Soviet Union. The steppe of Mongolia may represent the greatest expanse of largely unaltered grassland in the world. It is extremely dry, but the region also has springs, steppes, forests, and high mountains, and supports a great diversity of animals. The Gobi is different from the Sahara, as only a tiny part of it is sandy desert.
Przewalski's horses were last found on the Mongolian steppes of the Gobi Desert. The "wild" horses that abound in Australia and North America's western plains and East Coast barrier islands are actually feral domestic horses that escaped from ranches and farms and returned to the wild. Przewalski's horses are the only wild horses left in the world. Today they can only be found in reintroduction sites in Mongolia, China, and Kazakhstan. Competition with man and livestock, as well as changes in the environment, led to the horse moving east to Asia, and eventually becoming extinct in the wild. Przewalski's horses once ranged throughout Europe and Asia.
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