Zoo Sends Wild Horses Back to Kazakhstan After Extinction

Rhiannon Wolff just said goodbye to two horses she helped raise from birth, and it's exactly the kind of heartbreak worth celebrating.

The zookeeper at Marwell Zoo near Winchester spent years caring for Shara and Togs, two female Przewalski's horses that recently left for Kazakhstan to return to the wild. These aren't your typical horses. They're stocky, feisty, and completely wild animals that once disappeared from Earth entirely.

Every Przewalski's horse alive today descends from just 12 captive individuals after the species was declared extinct in the wild. Marwell Zoo played a major role in bringing scimitar horned oryx back from extinction too, proving that careful conservation work actually saves species.

Wolff didn't plan to become a zookeeper. She originally wanted to be a vet but discovered university courses focused on exotic and endangered animals that desperately needed help. After studying zoo management and interning at Chester Zoo, she moved to Marwell in 2020 for a temporary maternity cover position and never left.

Her daily work includes everything from cleaning enclosures to training three-ton rhinos and giraffes to stand still for voluntary X-rays and blood draws. She monitors animal behavior, collects samples, and provides enrichment for hoofed animals ranging from zebras to Visayan warty pigs.

The Ripple Effect

The departure of Shara and Togs marks another step in an international effort that's rewriting the future for Przewalski's horses. The two females made it to Berlin on January 22nd, completing the first leg of their journey home to the Kazakh steppes where their ancestors once roamed.

Wolff still cares for seven other female Przewalski's horses at Marwell, and the zoo plans to bring in another stallion soon. The hope is simple: more foals, more releases, more wild populations thriving in their native habitat.

Working with Przewalski's horses requires constant caution because these wild animals can kick and charge at each other with shocking force. But Wolff says the risk is worth it, especially during rare moments when they choose to approach her out of curiosity.

"It's definitely a privilege to work with so many species and it's a bit of a pinch me moment sometimes," Wolff says. She's particularly fond of the hardy Przewalski's horses and the gentle okapi, both species most people will never see in the wild.

The whole team grew attached to Shara and Togs over the years, making their departure bittersweet. But watching animals you raised from birth head back to wild landscapes their species nearly lost forever makes the sadness easier to bear.