Prague, July 26 (CTK) – An enclosure with a Przewalski horse herd will be built on the grassy plain on the Devin hill on the southern outskirts of Prague within a joint project of the City Hall and the Prague zoo to help revitalise the locality as a hiking route for Praguers, Deputy Mayor Petr Dolinek has said.
The Prague zoo has long assisted in the salvation of the endangered Przewalski horse and its return to the steppes of Mongolia, its original habitat.
The City Hall has earmarked 6.5 million crowns for arranging a horse pasture and a shelter on a 20-hectare plot belonging to the city, which is a former field.
“The locality needs to be enlivened and revitalised. The Przewalski horse breeding is a wonderful idea. We believe that Praguers will enjoy coming to watch the horses,” Dolinek told journalists.
Zoo deputy director Jaroslav Simek said the Devin plain, high above the Vltava River bed, reminds of a Mongolian steppe.
The area is optimal. It is large enough and surrounded with nature. At the same time, it is on a hilltop, so the weather may be a little bit cooler and more windy there than elsewhere, Simek said.
The project is to be completed in two years. Before, the ground and grass in the locality must be prepared to sustain the burden and ensure enough feed for them.
Afterwards, three to five mares will be released in the enclosure in the first phase of the project, Simek said.
The Prague zoo has bred the Przewalski horse since the 1930s. It has raised a total of 234 foals since.
The Przewalski horse died out in the wild in the 1960s. In 1995, the Prague zoo joined the project of the species’ return to the wild in Mongolia. It has released 31 horses in the original habitat so far.
($1=22.250 crowns)
