World’s only truly wild horse rebounds from extinction; population tops 900

The Przewalski’s horse, considered the world’s last truly wild horse, has returned to China’s grasslands after once disappearing from the wild in the country. Forty years after China began its Wild Horse Return Program, the population of the species has grown to about 900, with the animals now reproducing independently in several protected areas.The conservation effort began in 1986, a year after the species was considered extinct in the wild in China, according to Good News Network. The programme focused on breeding, relocating and protecting Przewalski’s horses across China’s grasslands. The animals living today came from a small number of horses that had survived in zoos and breeding centres in Europe.Data from the project’s monitoring arm for 2025 showed that the population in China had reached about 900. This is around one-third of the global population of Przewalski’s horses.