The population of Przewalski's horse, the world's last surviving wild horse subspecies, has increased to 65 in a nature reserve in northwest China's Gansu Province after reintroduction process.

Dunhuang Xihu National Nature Reserve is the country's second and Gansu's first reintroduction base of Przewalski's horses.

In 2010 and 2012, two batches of 28 Przewalski's horses were released into the wild by the reserve. After years of breeding, the population rose to 65 and is still growing.

Przewalski's horses historically lived on the grasslands that are now part of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the neighboring country Mongolia. The breed became extinct in the wild in China in the 1960s due to over-hunting but was reintroduced to Xinjiang and neighboring Gansu Province from horses captively-bred in Europe in the late 1980s. 

There are currently about 1,300 Przewalski's horses worldwide.

(With input from Xinhua)

(Cover image via VCG)

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