A Czech military plane has transported four Przewalski mares to Mongolia for reintroduction into the wild. This is part of Prague Zoo’s long-standing programme to save the endangered species. The horses arrived in Mongolia on Wednesday morning.

The Przewalski horse – or the Takhi, to use its Mongolian name – is a rare subspecies native to Mongolia, which became extinct in the wild in the 1960s. Prague Zoo has played a major role in saving the horse, breeding it and gradually returning it to its natural environment.

To date, the zoo has sent 31 horses to a nature reserve in the Mongolian steppe, where they have started breeding successfully.