Photo credits
Photo: Solar Olga / resized and cropped; adapted image licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.Source-based conservation feature · Sources checked 5 October 2026.
The conservation milestone began with something small: a foal standing beside its mother on Kazakhstan’s steppe. Prague Zoo announced on 25 August 2026 that Tessa, a Przewalski’s mare, had given birth on 22 August at the Alibi reintroduction centre. The birth was a step in a long effort to return the species to part of its former range.
A new generation, with an important distinction
The zoo said Tessa and the stallion Zorro had arrived in June 2024 through a transport organised with partners. It described the colt as the first such birth in central Kazakhstan in hundreds of years. UNEP’s September report says experts believe it may be the first in two centuries.
The foal was born in an acclimatisation enclosure, not into an already established free-roaming herd. That detail does not diminish the achievement. It identifies where the project stands: breeding has begun, while adaptation and successful release remain separate tasks.
How the comeback became possible
Prague Zoo describes a species that disappeared from the wild in the 1960s but survived through captive breeding. It has maintained the international studbook since 1959 and works with partners on transport and reintroduction. The Kazakhstan programme began moving horses from Europe in 2024.
UNEP places the effort within the broader Altyn Dala restoration initiative, which has worked on Kazakhstan’s grasslands and other threatened animals. Its September account describes a second foal born after Tessa’s colt and continued specialist monitoring. Future release plans in that report are plans, not an announcement that the animals are already independent.
The real test is what happens next
A birth is visible and easy to celebrate. Building a population that can reproduce, forage and persist without constant human help is a longer test. The project’s own account stresses the preparation of the site, transport logistics, acclimatisation and daily care behind the milestone.
The story also changes the scale at which conservation is understood. Saving a species involves maintaining genetic records, cooperation between institutions and a habitat capable of supporting the animals. The foal gives those years of work a memorable face.
What do we know? A new generation has begun at the reintroduction centre, according to the organisations caring for it. The hoped-for outcome is a self-sustaining population on the steppe. The distinction between that verified milestone and the future goal is what makes the progress meaningful.
