"The 28 horses, which are rare species of wildlife in China, were well prepared for the arrival of wild life," said Cao, an official of Wild Horse Reproduction Center.

According to the official, the wild horses have undergone a period of training aimed at adapting them to their natural environment. Instead of being fed regularly and living in cramped enclosures, the 28 wild horses are now living in a much bigger field with water sources, wild grass and natural hiding places.

The condition of the horses is monitored around the clock by the staff at the center, said Cao.

According to Cao, the long-term confinement of the horses has damaged their capacity for survival in their natural environment by reducing their speed and sense of direction.

Besides, the human control of mating and the reproduction of wild horses interferes with the natural law of competition for carrying on of the genes, which is essential to enhance the superior genes of such a species.

The death of the first horse born in the center was partly attributed to the poor rearing method.

The wild horses now living in Northwest China's Xinjiang are the only species of wild horse in the world. They are the only living organism that contains genes that are about 6 million years old.

Less than 1,000 of the wild horses in the hundreds of zoos and horse-raising grounds around the world are the descendants of the wild horses found in Junggar Basin and the southwest border of Mongolia at the end of last century. Subject to relentless poaching since then, the wild horses became extinct from their original habitat at the beginning of this century. The few living were sold to Europe and America.

A program of bringing the wild horses to their home was launched in 1985. Within the next few years, 18 wild horses from Germany and Britain were adopted by the Xinjiang Wild Horse Reproduction Center.

The years that followed saw a remarkable increase in the survival of the wild horses and their reproductive rate at the center.

Up to now, the center has 103 wild horses of all ages.

(China Daily 08/06/2001)