Rare Male Przewalski Foal Born in California Zoo Following Cloned Colt

A rare, critically endangered Przewalski foal was just born at a California zoo following the arrival of a cloned colt, which experts are thrilled about.

Przewalski Foal in a California Zoo

At a zoo in California, a rare horse was born that was thought to be extinct. According to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, the Przewalski's horse foal was born to "mother Nikki and father Ziggy" on June 11.

According to the group, the unnamed colt is continuing to gain his footing while remaining close to his mother, Nikki.

The organization says that "the tiny prancer" is blending in well with the dozen or so horses who make up the Przewalski's horse herd.

But when a second foal entered the herd in April, it was the second Przewalski's horse that scientists had successfully cloned.

According to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance at the time, it was anticipated that his presence would aid in restoring genetic variety to the critically endangered P-horse population.

The Przewalski's horse was thought to be extinct in the wild up until 1996, according to the organization as resported by The Sacramento Bee.

Rare Species: Przewalski's Horse

According to the San Diego organization, zoos all over the world have mostly been responsible for the species' survival for the past 40 years.

As per the Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, the horses formerly roamed throughout Europe and Asia.

The horse moved east to Asia and eventually went extinct in the wild due to competition with humans and cattle as well as environmental changes.

The species is now restricted to reintroduction areas in China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan, according to the Smithsonian Institute.

The last truly wild horse can be found in Mongolia; they are called Przewalski's horses. They happen to be distant cousins of the domestic horse, which was once believed to be their ancestor.

Based on mitochondrial DNA, they may have separated from a common ancestor 500,000 years ago.

According to the institute, the wild horses that wander Australia, North America's western plains, and the barrier islands off the East Coast are actually domestic horses who fled from ranches and farms.

Przewalski's Horse Project

The Przewalski's horse species is recovering from an extreme historical bottleneck, like many other endangered species. Today's 2,000+ Przewalski horses are descended from just 12 people.

Continual reintroductions throughout the 1990s have helped to create wild herds in Mongolia and China, but genetic diversity needs to be restored for the species to continue existing.

Using a cell line that had been cryopreserved at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Frozen Zoo since 1980, Revive & Restore, together with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, as well as ViaGen Pets and Equine, began working together in 2018 to clone the first Przewalski's horse in history.

Kurt, the foal, was born on August 6, 2020, and he possesses valuable genetic diversity that has been lost from the existing gene pool.

The same cell line gave birth to a second Przewalski's horse clone on February 17, 2023.

Kurt and the young foal are genetic twins who might be the first cloned creatures to replenish their species' genetic diversity, according to Revive & Restore.