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The four young stallions obviously preferred to run free on the vast grassland of the Karamoni nature preserve in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region than squeeze into metal boxes.

Four Przewalski's horses, a highly endangered equine species, gallop at the Karamoni nature preserve in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Monday. [ Photo / Xinhua ]

That's why it took almost an hour to successfully get the Przewalski's horses - a highly endangered equine species - into the boxes specially designed for transporting them to neighboring Mongolia.

It was the first time that China has sent endangered wild horses to other countries to breed, and the stallions' discomfort during the short journey might just help save their species. After traveling overnight on the road, the horses arrived at Xinjiang's Takeshenken port, linking China and Mongolia, at about 10 am on Tuesday.

Przewalski's horses, also known as Takhi in Mongolia, were first caught by Russian explorer Nikolay Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky in Xinjiang and shipped to Europe in 1876. With their short bodies, reddish-brown coats and unique dark brown thin lines running through the middle of their backs, they are the only surviving subspecies of horse that has never been domesticated.

The stallions, aged between 4 and 5, were isolated before being sent to the Mongolia B-Zone Gobi National Park on April 11 for health checks and immunization. They were carefully selected by health, shape as well as fitness. Also, their genetic profiles were sent to the national park in advance to make sure the horses from the two countries were not close relatives.

"Calm down boys, you are going to find good wives when you arrive in Mongolia," Entmak, the vet, whispered to the horses through the gaps of the metal boxes, trying to calm them down. Their wild nature made them become extremely irritable in the boxes. They constantly kicked and jumped inside, lifting the boxes off the ground.

The four young horses are from a pack nicknamed the "bachelor pack" by the workers at the Xinjiang Wild Horse Reproduction and Research Center based in Karamoni because they are kept separate from the mares, which are their close relatives.

Now, the bachelor pack can finally start families of their own in Mongolia.

To make them feel safe and relaxed, the workers positioned the boxes so the four horses could see each other through the windows.

"The boxes are designed by Mongolian standards and I think they are a bit small," said Cao Jie, director of the center. "I just don't want the horses to get hurt during overnight transportation."

The journey from Karamoni to Takeshenken port took longer than usual because driving too fast would cause more discomfort for the horses, Cao said.

"I can feel their anxiety, but it's all for their species," said Entmak, who has spent a month with the four horses and feels a bit sad about their departure. "When the stallion reaches sexual maturity, its father will kick him out of the pack to prevent inbreeding, so finding love could be a challenging task for the young horse, considering the number of its species in Xinjiang is so small."

Xinjiang was the original habitat of Przewalski's horses. The wild horse is even rarer than the giant panda. Currently there are fewer than 1,500 in the world. The wild horse disappeared from its original habitat in the early 20th century.

China has imported 24 wild horses from the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany since the wild horse reproduction center in Xinjiang was set up in 1986.

The center is the largest of its kind in Asia and had 471 horses at the end of last year.

"The survival rate of the wild horses is more than 70 percent," Cao said. "The wild horses could easily adapt to Xinjiang's environment, after all it's a homecoming for them."

As the only two countries that have successfully reintroduced the wild horses into the wild, China and Mongolia began discussions on exchanging stallions since 2009, said Tamtar Enkhsaikhan, manager of the International Takhi Group in Mongolia.

"It's the first step toward exchanging stallions of Przewalski's horses through international cooperation, and we will exchange more studs with the US, UK and other European countries in the future to help the endangered species."

More than 300 Przewalski's horses live in Mongolia. The four stallions from Xinjiang will join 60 others in the Mongolia B-Zone Gobi National Park and become a part of the family.

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