In March 2022, the Chinese government announced that it will continue to carry out the rewilding of 15 rare and threatened wildlife species, including Przewalski's horse Equus ferus, as part of China's 14th 5-Year Plan (2021–2025). The population of this species in China now exceeds 700, accounting for approximately one-third of the global population. Formerly categorized as Critically Endangered, this species was recategorized as Endangered in 2015.
Przewalski's horse was first identified in 1880, and was formerly distributed across Kazakhstan, western Mongolia and north-western China. The species was negatively affected by hunting, military activities, climate change, competition with livestock, and increasing land-use pressure, and was categorized as Extinct in the Wild in 1969. In 1985, China began the Wild Horse Returning Home project, with two breeding centres, in Jimsar County, Xinjiang, and Wuwei City, Gansu. From 1985 to 2005, the Xinjiang Breeding Centre received five groups of Przewalski's horses, from zoos in Germany, the UK and USA. During 1989–1994, the Gansu Breeding Centre received three groups, from Germany and the USA. Following successful reproduction, more than 300 Przewalski's horses have been released in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve in Xinjiang, Dunhuang Xihu National Nature Reserve in Gansu, and Daqingshan National Nature Reserve in Inner Mongolia.
However, Przewalski's horse still faces multiple threats in China. All individuals are descended from 15 founders, resulting in relatively low genetic diversity, and anthropogenic threats and developments such as roads, mining, competition with livestock for grazing, and hybridization with domestic horses affect the species, even in nature reserves. The reintroduced horses continue to rely on supplementary fodder and water to survive the harsh winters.
In response to these pressures, China sent four male Przewalski's horses to Mongolia to increase genetic diversity in 2012. In 2015, the Chinese government closed mining enterprises in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve and later carried out ecological restoration in the former mining zones, and in 2020 Kalamaili was upgraded from Provincial Nature Reserve to National Nature Reserve (National Nature Reserves have the highest level of protection and the strictest management measures). In addition, through education and free coal for heating, local herdsmen have received compensation for their loss of access to grazing in the core zone of the Reserve. To ensure a self-sustaining population of Przewalski's horse, these measures need to be combined with the release of additional individuals and strict limits on the number of domestic livestock, especially horses, in the release areas.
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