Two Przewalski's foals born in Xinjiang

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A wild horse breeding center in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region saw the birth of two foals from a rare horse subspecies earlier in October, bringing the total number of the once-extinct wild horses to 379 in the region.

The two female Przewalski's horses were born on Oct 9 and 13 respectively, said Zhang Hefan, a researcher at the center.

"They are called 'Snow White' and 'the little black girl' according to the colors of their coats," Zhang said.

A total of 36 foals have been born at the center this year. Twelve now live in captivity, and the others have been released into protection zones or wildlife parks.

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

There are currently about 2,000 Przewalski's horses in the world, even less than the number of giant pandas.

(Top photo: The file photo taken on April 4 2017 shows a Przewalski's horse in a field of the Domain of the Caves of Han, Belgium. Two Przewalski's horses left the Domain of the Caves of Han to be transported to Prague Zoo on Tuesday. After inspection and quarantine, one of them will be sent to northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region this September for breeding. /Xinhua Photo)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency