Rare horse — once believed extinct — born at California zoo. See foal ‘find his stride’

A rare horse, whose species was once considered extinct, was born at a California zoo.

The foal, a Przewalski’s horse, was born to “mother Nikki and father Ziggy” on June 11, according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

The colt, who doesn’t have a name just yet, “is staying close to his mama Nikki as he continues to find his stride,” the organization said on Twitter.

The organization said “the tiny prancer” is fitting in well with its Przewalski’s horse herd, which has about dozen members.

In April, another foal joined the herd, McClatchy News reported. That youngster, however, was the second Przewalski’s horse researchers have ever successfully cloned.

His arrival was expected to “help return genetic diversity to the endangered P-horse population,” the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said at the time.

Up until 1996, the Przewalski’s horse was considered to be extinct in the wild, the organization said.

“The species has survived for the past 40 years almost entirely in zoos around the world,” the San Diego organization said.

The horses once lived “throughout Europe and Asia,” according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute.

“Competition with man and livestock, as well as changes in the environment, led to the horse moving east to Asia, and eventually becoming extinct in the wild,” the institute said.

Now, the Smithsonian institute said, the species can only be found in “reintroduction sites in Mongolia, China, and Kazakhstan.”

The species is considered “the last truly wild horse” in the world, as “wild horses” that roam “Australia and North America’s western plains and East Coast barrier islands” are actually domestic horses that escaped to the wild from ranches and farms, according to the institute.

The San Diego Safari Park is located in Escondido, about 30 miles northeast of San Diego.

This story was originally published June 30, 2023 at 2:57 PM with the headline "Rare horse — once believed extinct — born at California zoo. See foal ‘find his stride’."

Daniella Segura

McClatchy DC

Daniella Segura is a national real-time reporter with McClatchy. Previously, she’s worked as a multimedia journalist for weekly and daily newspapers in the Los Angeles area. Her work has been recognized by the California News Publishers Association. She is also an alumnus of the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley.