Wild Horses

Last weekend I visited Hustai National Park, where the tahki horses live. The tahki are genetically distinct from modern horses, apparently having wandered off on a different evolutionary path in prehistoric times (sort of like the Neanderthals of the horse world). Some years ago a foreign wildlife biologist working in Mongolia recognized their uniqueness and warned that they were being hunted to extinction. Once everyone realized what they were, an effort was started to preserve them, and eventually the park was created and populated.

When we arrived, we were thrilled to see that no other tourists had thought to come in the off season. (The only other people at the ger camp were Mongolian wildlife biologists studying the parks’ animals). We immediately set out hiking in hopes of sighting some horses, although with only about 130 in the whole park I wasn’t too optimistic. These photos give an idea of the terrain. We didn’t find horses that day, although we did see a group of about 20 Manchurian red deer run up and over a saddle right in front of us.

The next morning, acting on a tip from one of the wildlife biologists, we headed out on foot to a valley about 10K from our camp. And there they were, right by the road. They didn’t spook or even seem very concerned by our proximity. Apparently, they’ve gotten used to the hordes of tourists ogling them. So despite the fact that they weren’t exactly acting like wild animals, it was fun to watch them carrying on with their normal horsy activities. We couldn’t have asked for a better show.