przewalski's horse
Przewalski’s horses—stocky, with short legs and yellow-to-brown hair—live in small, permanent family groups of one adult stallion, one to three mares, and their common offspring. Bachelor stallions and old-timers form bachelorgroups, while family groups sometimes unite to form a herd that moves together. Native to the steppes of central Asia, Przewalski’s horse diverged from the modern domestic horse some 160,000 years ago, back when all Homo sapiens lived in Africa. Once extinct in the wild, there are now 50 mature individuals free-living in the wild in Mongolia but, as its population size is miniscule, it is highly vulnerable to severe weather events, which are increasing due to climate change. The winter of 2009-2010 was particularly severe in areas occupied by reintroduced Prezwalski's horses was particularly severe, causing their Gobi population to crash.
Art by Laura Lark.