Przewalski’s Horses
As a volunteer one was expected to collect data that helped the project managers understand how new Przewalski’s horses, bred in captivity, functioned in the wild.
Arising at 5.30am one attempted to eat the meagre bread and cheese breakfast and then pack into one’s rucksack the large thermometer (for recording air temperatures), chart, packed lunch (not very substantial), bar of chocolate, water, camera and also, in my case a sketchbook. Then in the cold and dark at the entrance of the camp one awaited the arrival of the jeep that would take us five volunteers on the 20 minute trip to the field centre.
The Takhi, as they are known here, would usually be on lower ground at this time of day, near to the streams and enjoying the lush grass. As soon as we spotted a harem, the person who had been allocated this group would be deposited by the side of the road to begin the day’s work. Alone in the eerie silence I found that first morning quite challenging. What if I walked so far into the hills that I got lost? Would I ever find my way back to the field centre in time for the lift back to camp?
From this low area the horses would gradually make their way to higher ground, into the rocky heights so as to be cooler in the very hot afternoons. Each harem would have one stallion, with several mares, foals and juveniles. There was one bachelor harem consisting of around 15 young louts who would tear around (as if kicking lager cans about and being thorough nuisances) until each was mature enough to set up his own harem, whereupon he would steal a young mare or two from an established harem. None of us followed this group!
Sitting on a rock in the damp early morning, watching the sun rise with ‘my’ harem lazily grazing and the foals playing was bliss. I could not have imagined how wonderful this experience of spending 6 hours following these unique horses in such glorious scenery would be. However, there was work to do and it was required that I record the air temperature, guess the velocity of the wind, note if it was cloudy, sunny or (rarely) if it rained. To the complex charts I would add comments about the Takhis' behaviour: when they grazed, stood still, lay down, walked or trotted; when the foals suckled and played; if the adults mutually groomed each other, copulated or fought. All these details were later fed into a computer to be analysed.
Despite following the same harem each day, the pickup point and routes they would take to reach higher ground were different each time. It was great to be able to explore new parts of the park, walking along the side of a stream, through narrow valleys with flowers and shrubs, up and over huge hills of grass, climbing over rocks to reach high the craggy heights.
Often of course one lost one’s harem. They would just take off, for whatever reason, and one would be left running and stumbling after them, puffing and panting up steep slopes and climbing over boulders. Space is very deceptive and when I imagined that the horses had simply disappeared down a grassy incline into a small valley with beyond, in fact there would be a series of valleys covering absolutely miles which I couldn’t see until I reached higher ground. Sometimes I would plough on endeavouring to catch up when suddenly I would come upon the harem far closer than was comfortable. I was once challenged by a stallion because I got too near – that was a little unnerving! On occasions one harem might encroach into the private space of another harem. They seemed to be pretty good natured about this – there would be a bit of posturing by the stallions, squealing and biting and half hearted kicks would be extended but that would be about it.