An ugly horse, a mule, a capybara, or a rare Przewalski horse? These are the questions a Utah horse rescue is asking after picking up this interesting owner surrender.
The mare in question, an oddly-shaped buckskin dun, was posted by Lazy B Equine Rescue and Sanctuary recently, saying they would send in hair for DNA, which will take four to six weeks to get back.
The rescue’s posts garnered a lot of interest from across the internet, and it’s no wonder. That’s because if it is a Przewalski horse, that kind is a critically endangered breed found in Mongolia — the last truly wild horse that was once extinct in the wild and is currently undergoing reintroduction efforts.
And, it turns out, this mare isn’t the first ancient-looking equine found in recent days. Kinsey Huckabay, from Aurora, Colorado, picked up a stallion from the Peabody Kill Pen in Kansas that was initially presumed to be a Fjord cross.
The stallion, dubbed Shrek, has become an overnight TikTok celebrity with Huckaby stating that DNA results had confirmed that he was, in fact, 100 percent Przewalski.
@kinsey_huckabayy now just waiting for the zoo to come out 😭 #fyp #przewalski #horse #endangered ♬ You Gotta Move – Mississippi Fred McDowell
Huckabay has even started a fundraiser on GoFundMe looking to raise $3,500 to help treat the stallion, which they are currently unable to handle.
Przewalski horses have 66 chromosomes compared to the 64 that domestic horses have. Because of their even number of chromosomes, they can reproduce with domestic horse breeds and produce fertile offspring that look like Przewalski’s horses. According to the Smithsonian National Zoo, the only way to confirm hybrids is through DNA testing.
The Przewalski horse originally went extinct in the 1960s in the wild. Captive breeding programs have saved the breed from extinction. Reintroduction projects in China and Mongolia have helped to restore the horses to their former habitats.
While all Przewalski horses come from the same original, rescued 12 wild horses, recent efforts at cloning them may be a viable tool for genetic rescue. So far, two foals have been born from the San Diego Zoo’s programs. In 2022, one was born from the cryopreserved DNA of a stallion collected 42 years ago, while a second twin was born in 2023.