AKIPRESS.COM - Four Przewalski's horse mares from the Prague Zoo left for Mongolia, where they would be transported to the Gobi B National Park and released into the wild later, aboard a military special plane in the afternoon, according to Prague Daily Monitor.

"Let us hope that it will go on like in the previous years. This is a complex and risky operation and serious problems may occur easily," Prague Zoo director Miroslav Bobek said.

The mares, called Heia, Reweta, Nara and Heilige, were all born in 2013 and they come from various European countries. They were selected for the project since they had a high chance to multiply well.

After their arrival in Mongolia, the mares in their transport boxes will be loaded to lorries and driven to the Takhin Tal area in the strictly protected Gobi B where they will be released to special fences for acclimatisation.

Next Wednesday, the CASA military plane will fly from Bulgan to Ulaanbaatar to take another four horses, including one stallion, from the Khustain Nuruu National Park and fly them to Takhin Tal reserve in Gobi B.

The Prague Zoo is one of the main organizers of the transfers of the Przewalski's horses, the last of which was shot dead in the wild 40 years ago, back to its original homeland.

The zoo started breeding the Przewalski horse in 1932. It has kept the international pedigree book of this species since 1959.

In cooperation with the Czech military, the zoo has transported 19 Przewalski's horses to Mongolia, 6,000 km away, in the past years. Out of them, 17 are alive. The imported horses have 15 offspring.