science · 31 March 1839 · 185 years ago
birth
Born 31 Mar 1839; died 20 Oct 1888 at age 49.
Russian explorer who discovered a wild camel and a primitive horse (named Przhevalsky's horse), during expeditions in the mountain regions between Tibet and Mongolia, collecting both plants and animals. In 1881, Przewalski made an official statement describing the horse: its appearance, characteristics and remote habitat. They lived in herds of 5 to 15 animals led by a stallion. He noted that they were alert and very shy, with acute hearing, very good eyesight and a highly developed sense of smell. They seemed to prefer saline soils and could survive for a long time without water. On his fifth expedition, while investigating Lake Issyk Kul's shores, he died after drinking typhoid-infected water. By 1969, the species was thought extinct in the wild. By breeding the few surviving in zoos, some have been reintroduced to the wild.
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