History Behind a Name:
Przewalski′s Horse
The first evidence of the Przewalski′s Horse may come from Italian, Spanish and French cave paintings from the Upper Paleolithic, Magdalene culture 18,000 and 10,000 BP. Although it can not be proven that the cave paintings are indeed Przewalski′s Horses they do show the characteristics of this horses type. The climate during the Paleolithic fluctuated between warm and cool temperatures and it is believed large horses depicted in the European caves died out while medium to smaller sized horses survived. The medium sized ancestral horses may have increased in sized due to better conditions in what is now the Steppes of Russia and Ukraine. (Guntar Nobis 1955) It is this species that may have been domesticated and became what we now call the modern horse or Equis Calaibis . The Przewalski′s Horse is believed to be a subspecies of that animal. (Jarred Diamond 1997)
The first written account of the Przewalski′s Horse comes from a Tibetan Monk traveling with Genghis Kahn who wrote about an incident that occurred in 1226. It mentions the horse Genghis Kahn was riding was startled by wild horses that had suddenly crossed in front of him and threw him to the ground. (S. Bokonyi 1974) Later accounts give the impression that the Przewalski′s Horse was legendary although earliest Mongolian culture cows, sheep, camels and goats were of higher economic importance. (Judith Kolbas 2003) The work involved in obtaining the wild Przewalski′s Horse may have made them valuable as a possession. A wide circle of men would surround an area around the wild horses. Then slowly, sometimes within weeks, they would close in tighter until the horses could not run far. Then the nobility would chose the horses they wanted then lower ranks could take what they wanted. There is no evidence that the Mongols ever domesticated the horses but rather tamed them. (Judith Kolbas 2003)
In 1630 an important Mongolian presented a Przewalski′s Horse to the emperor of Manchuria who at the time
was Huang Taiji (November 28, 1592 to September 21, 1643; reigned 1626 to 1643). Emperor Huang Taiji expanded his empire into what would later be known as Manchuria. The gift of a captive rare wild animals for diplomacy is not unknown in the history of the east or western cultures. The most recent well known gift of exotic animals given as diplomatic ambassadors of good will took place in 1972 and involved two Giant Pandas from China which were given to the United States. (Marina Belozerskaya 2006) It′s reasonable to assume the Przewalski′s Horse in 1630 carried similar value in diplomacy and popularity and was given to the Emperor Huang Taiji.
The first reports from about Przewalski′s Horses from a westerner were from John Bell, a Scottish Doctor in the service of the Czar Peter the Great. John Bell traveled with Leoff Vassilievitch Ismayloff ambassador from the Tsar to Kang Hi, Emperor of China in 1719. The two did not return to Russia until 1721. Bell wrote two volumes from his observations during his travel.
“There is, besides, a number of wild horses, of a chestnut colour; which cannot be tamed, though they are catched when foals. These horses differ nothing from the common kind in shape, but are the most watchful creatures alive. One of them waits always on the heights, to give warning to the rest; and, upon the least approach of danger, runs to the herd, making all the noise it can; upon which all of them fly away, like so many deer. The stallion drives up the rear, neighing, biting and kicking those who do not run fast enough. Notwithstanding this wonderful sagacity, these animals are often surprized by the Kalmucks; who ride in among them, well mounted on swift horses, and kill them with broad lances. Their flesh they esteem excellent food; and use their skins to sleep upon, instead of couches. These are the animals peculiar to this part of the country; and, besides these, there are many more, common to this place with the rest of Siberia.“
The next Westerner to make mention of the Przewalski′s Horse is the man who name has become associated with it, Colonel Nikolai Michailovich Przewalski. Przewalski is the descendant of Polish ancestors and lived from 1839 to 1888. Przewalski was ordered to explore eastern Serbia by the order of Czar Alexander the second. He became ill during his exploration and stopped at a Chinese/Russian frontier post in Zaisan, or Zaisansk. While here he received a skull and skin of a wild horse shot 80 km or 50 miles to the north of Gutschen, Xinjiang China. Not convinced the remains came from a horse Przewalski took them to a conservator for the Academy of Science in Saint Petersburg, I. S. Poliakov is the conservator who confirmed the remains were indeed from a horse. During Przewalski′s successive expeditions he added behavioral information of what may have been Przewalski′s horses. To this day it is not known if he made those observations of Przewalski′s Horse or the Asiatic Wild Ass (Equus hemionus hemionus)!
In the late 1800′s Russia had taken interest in the study of central Asia. By orders of the Russian Government the brothers Grigory and Michael Grum-Grzhimailos traveled western China making maps and describing local flora and fauna. In 1889 the Grum-Grzhimailos spotted Przewalski′s Horses at a watering hole and were able to shoot four. They also described the vigilant behavior of the Przewalski′s Horse standing guard signaling with snorts when danger threatened. The horses would walk single file with a young stallion in front and with foals in the middle with their mares. When chased the stallion took a position in the back of the line. When a foal could not keep up the stallion would urge in on by pushing it with his muzzle, dragging it by its withers or occasionally kicking threateningly.(Boyd Houpt 1994) Grum-Grzhimailos brought back four hides, skulls and one incomplete skeleton to Saint Petersburg for study.
By this time other explorers had brought back hides and skulls, but none of these explorers had actually seen the horse and based behavioral information upon what the local inhabitants were able to tell them. Some considered that the Przewalski′s Horse was a hybrid between a domesticated horse and a Asiatic Wild Ass (Equus hemionus hemionus). Finally in 1902 after much investigation it was proven that the Przewalski′s Horse was indeed a genuine wild horse. .(Boyd Houpt 1994)