Twenty-seven wild horses will be returned to their natural habitat at the Kala Maili Natural Reserve in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region today but zoological experts have major doubts as to whether they will survive.

Various difficulties exist in making the horses accustomed to the wild prairie, where their ancestors roamed a century ago, said Guo Geng yesterday, an official from the Friends of Nature - a non-profit making organization involved in protecting the environment.

According to a CCTV report, the horses' survival capabilities - such as speed, sharp eyesight and sense of orientation - have been impaired due to being raised in cramped enclosures since they were first brought into China, after their extinction in the country.

Even worse, the horses, which have been enjoying one particular fodder for half a century, cannot recognize the wild grass, and even boggle at water puddles.

These animals are the only species of wild horse in the world, and 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 the last century. Subject to relentless poaching, the wild horses became extinct from their original habitat at the beginning of the 20th century. The few living were sold to Europe and America.

Gu Jinghe, an expert from the Xinjiang branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said severe winter conditions in Xinjiang, wolves and reproduction problems are major issues endangering the survival of the horses in the wild.

But experts are still confident of success.

"A radio tracking station is set up to monitor the horses on a round-the-clock basis," said Guo. "In the long run, reintroduction to nature is the only way to conserve the species."

(China Daily 08/29/2001)