We recently returned from a trip to Mongolia, including Hustai National Park in Central Mongolia. The park is home to approximately 250 Przewalski's Horses, localled known as "takhis." These horses are the only truly wild horses left in the world, having never been domesticated. They went extinct in the wild in the 1960's, but were reintroduced into Hustai National Park from zoo populations in the 1990's, and are now thriving in the park.
Our superb guide, Eegii, put us in a position to take pictures of these extremely rare and unique animals in wonderful late-afternoon light, so all of these pictures were made possible by him.
You can learn more about takhis at www.takhi.org. I hope you enjoy the pictures!
As a horse lover & owner for most of my life I've always loved hearing, reading & seeing these truly wild horses. I've only seen them in Zoos & that's not the same. Love seeing the beautiful everyday interaction of the mare & her little colt.
Light is just perfect for showing off their color - such warm & harmonious colors.
Thanks, everyone. We got so lucky with the light, because the horses stayed for an extended period in an area lit up by the late afternoon sun (these pictures were taken around 6:30pm). Hustai National Park is mountainous, so it is very easy to encounter the horses in deep shade. Our guide knew we wanted to encounter them in sunlight, and through a combination of his skill and great luck, we got what you see in the pictures.
Best of all, the horses were really calm and we spent 30-45 minutes watching them literally without another human in sight. That made the whole encounter even more special!
