Horses and nomads in Mongolia

Abstract

This is a brief report of my recent trip to Mongolia. I had never been to the country before, partly because there are no monkeys or apes. However, it might be a valuable endeavor for understanding primate evolution in comparison to other mammals. For a few years, my colleagues and I have also been focusing on wild horses (Matsuzawa 2017). The area of Mongolia is about four times larger than that of Japan. It corresponds to the total area of Germany, France, Spain, and Portugal in Europe. The latitude is also similar: the latitude of the capital Uraanbaatar is approximately that of Paris. However, the population of Mongolia is only about 3 million, about 2.5% of that of Japan. The primary purpose of my journey was to see Takhi in the wild. Takhi is the Mongolian name of Przewalski’s horse (Equus przewalskii). In 1969, the last evidence of Takhi in the wild was recorded in the Gobi Desert. No new observations of wild Takhi have been recorded in the last 50 years. The species is considered to have become extinct in the wild. However, many Takhi had been captured and sent to zoos in Europe and North America since the species was discovered and reported to the Western world in the 19th century (Boyd and Houpt 1990). A reintroduction trial started in 1992. It is a program initiated by Jan and Inge Bouman from the Netherlands, with the collaboration of Mongolian government (Wit and Bouman 2006). The horses were brought to Hustai National Park, about 100 km west-southwest of the capital. The area of the park is about 500 km2. The short stay for 3 nights/4 days in Hustai National Park in July gave me the opportunity to look around the freeranging groups of Takhi. In each group, there is one adult male horse, called Azarga in the local Mongolian language. Azarga corresponds to Stallion in English, and he is accompanied by his multiple females and dependent offspring. This social group is called the one-male unit group, or polygamous family group . The birth season of horses in Hustai is limited to May and June, when about 80% of births occur. The newborns—foals in English—are easy to recognize even from afar. The groups spread out on the slopes covered by green grasses (Fig. 1). We were able to see about ten different groups. The landscape of Hustai is a mixture of steppe and mountain forests. The northern slopes of the mountains have small patches of forest because of the snow remaining for a longer period keeping water. The first of 16 horses were reintroduced in 1992. That event was followed by four more reintroductions every 2 years, the last one being in 2000. The total of 84 Takhi have been imported to Hustai. Wit and Bouman (2006) reported that 237 foals were born and the total number of horses in Hustai had reached 159 by the end of 2004, and that 75% of the horses were wild-born at that point. According to the most recent record of June 16th, 2019, kept by national park guards, there were 34 groups, totaling 261 horses. The group size including foals varies from a minimum of two to a maximum of 17, with an average of 7.7. In addition to the Azarga horses of the one-male unit groups, there are 95 adult male horses who move around alone or form bachelor groups. Thus, the total number of Takhi in the Hustai