Khustai National Park

Only about 100 kilometers west of the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, brings you to Khustai National Park. A perfect short escape for anyone looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city life and has a day or two to spare. The park was founded as a means to re-introduce last of the world’s wild horses into their natural habitat. Przewalski’s horses (Takhi in Mongolian), named after Russian geographer and explorer, are ancestors or distant cousins of modern day horses. They used to roam the wilds of the Central Asian steppe before going extinct; the last horse was seen in 1966. Luckily, 15 horses were captured and brought to zoos in Europe around the year 1900. A cooperative venture between the Zoological Society of London and Mongolian scientists resulted in a successful re-introduction in 1992 and a year later the Khustai National Park was born.

Now there are over 300 freely roaming horses, all descended from the originally captured horses. Other than Przewalski’s horses, the park maintains right conditions for wildlife to flourish – deer roam the rolling hills and curious yet quick marmots can be seen running across your field of vision.