Only one species of wild horse remains, known as the Przewalski’s horse, the short, stocky, zebra like animal once roamed throughout Europe and Asia. The wild horses, named after Nikolai Przewalski, a Russian explorer who brought a skull of the horse to Russia from Central Asia in 1878, were facing extinction. According to Prague Zoo, which is heavily involved in conservation efforts, the species reached its lowest point in 1945, with only 31 remaining in captivity. In 1969, a Mongolian scientist made what some thought would be the last ever sighting of a Przewalski’s horse in the wild. However, over the past 40 years, the breeding of captive populations and re-introductions in Europe and Asia have brought the Przewalski’s horse back from the brink.
