In the land of the Przewalskis – So far, so close

The Causse Méjean is a mountainous country, of stones and open moors which is said to be grandiose, austere, swept by the winds and solitudes. It is there, for 30 years, that the French association Takh, meaning “spirit” or “wild horse” in Mongolian, has established a herd of small stocky horses, light brown in color streaked with a black mule stripe on the along the spine. These equines, unique in their kind, surprisingly resemble the prehistoric horses found in cave paintings and bear the name of a Russian explorer “Przewalski”, who one day, in the 19th century, crossed their path in Central Asia and made them known in Europe.

Since the 1960s, the breed, originally from Central Asia, has become extinct in the wild but it survived in zoos before being introduced into Lozère and then reintroduced in Mongolia, with the help of the Mongolian authorities. And since 2020, the Takh association has been developing a scientific and ecotourism center project, aimed at the general public. On the Causse Méjean, the observation from a good distance of these horses which flourish here without any human intervention, offers a journey in space, to Central Asia but also in time, at a time when millions of horses still lived in the wild. It also allows us to understand their survival issues, their social relationships, their role in the ecosystem and how these horses shape the territory, while questioning animal well-being. Which at the time of the Anthropocene, this new era where humans have turned the world upside down by thinking of themselves above everything, allows us to shift our focus and who knows, to put man in his place… country of the Przewalskis, we look at the horses and they teach us to look at the world differently.

A sound journey by Sibylle D’Orgeval.

Learn more:

– On the Takh association and its scientific and ecotourism center for Przewalski horses located in Villaret.