The evolutionary divergence of the two populations was estimated to have occurred about 72,000–38,000 years ago, well before domestication, most likely due to climate, topography, or other environmental changes.

[20] The mane stands erect and does not extend as far forward,[21] while the tail is about 90 cm (35 in) long, with a longer dock and shorter hair than seen in domesticated horses.

[24] In comparison, the chromosomal differences between domestic horses and zebras include numerous large-scale translocations, fusions, inversions, and centromere repositioning.

[25] Przewalski reported the horses forming troops of between five and fifteen members, consisting of a mature stallion, his mares and foals.

Many plant species are in a typical Przewalski's horse environment, including: Elymus repens, Carex spp., Fabaceae, and Asteraceae.

[31] Looking at the species' diet overall, Przewalski's horses most often eat E. repens, Trifolium pratense, Vicia cracca, Poa trivialis, Dactylis glomerata, and Bromus inermis.

[31] In winter the horses eat Salix spp., Pyrus communis, Malus sylvatica, Pinus sylvestris, Rosa spp., and Alnus spp.

Additionally, Przewalski's horses may dig for Festuca spp., Bromus inermis, and E. repens that grow beneath the ice and snow.

Przewalski's horses seasonally display a set of changes collectively characteristic of physiologic adaptation to starvation, with their basal metabolic rate in winter being half what it is during springtime.

[1] In the fifteenth century, Johann Schiltberger recorded one of the first European sightings of the horses in the journal recounting his trip to Mongolia as a prisoner of the Mongol Khan.

[30] A number of these horses were captured around 1900 by Carl Hagenbeck and placed in zoos, and these, along with one later captive, reproduced to give rise to today's population.

[30] Competition with livestock, hunting, capture of foals for zoological collections, military activities, and harsh winters recorded in 1945, 1948, and 1956 are considered to be main causes of the decline in Przewalski's horse population.

[41] In their last decades in the wild, the remnant population was limited to the small region between the Takhiin Shar Nuruu and Bajtag-Bogdo mountain ridges.

[30] Attempts to obtain specimens for exhibit and captive breeding were largely unsuccessful until 1902, when 28 captured foals were brought to Europe.

In 1977, the Foundation for the Preservation and Protection of the Przewalski Horse was founded in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, by Jan and Inge Bouman.

[42] By 1979, when this concerted program of population management to maximize genetic diversity was begun, there were almost four hundred horses in sixteen facilities,[30] a number that had grown by the early 1990s to over 1,500.

[44] While dozens of zoos worldwide have Przewalski's horses in small numbers, specialized reserves are also dedicated primarily to the species.

[26] An additional breeding population of Przewalski's horses roams the former Döberitzer Heide military proving ground, now a nature reserve in Dallgow-Döberitz, Germany.

[54] In 2024, a Colorado rancher discovered what appears to be a critically endangered Przewalski's horse at a Kansas livestock auction,[55] mistakenly identified as a mule.

A cooperative venture between the Zoological Society of London and Mongolian scientists has successfully reintroduced these horses from zoos into their natural habitat in Mongolia.

At a site on the northern edge of the Gobi Desert, Feh worked in cooperation with local people to ensure the horses survived and flourished.

[58] In 2004 and 2005, 22 horses were released by the Association Takh to a third reintroduction site in the buffer zone of the Khar Us Nuur National Park, in the northern edge of the Gobi ecoregion.

The population of Przewalski's horse in the Great Gobi B SPA was drastically affected, providing clear evidence of the risks associated with reintroducing small and sequestered species in unpredictable and unfamiliar environments.

With the support of public and many strategic partners, yearly transports of captive-bred horses into the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area continued.

This introduction was intended to address the buildup of dense scrub caused by the decrease in traditional sheep grazing due to rural depopulation.

[66] The operation was organised by Prague Zoo, which selected horses from various programs in Europe, which were housed at Tierpark Berlin for some months before being transported to Kazakhstan in Czech army planes.

[67] In the earlier decades of captivity, the insular breeding by individual zoos led to inbreeding and reduced fertility.

[70][71] In 2020, the first cloned Przewalski's horse was born, the result of a collaboration between San Diego Zoo Global, ViaGen Equine and Revive & Restore.

[74] The somatic cell donor was a Przewalski horse stallion named Kuporovic, born in the UK in 1975 and relocated three years later to the US, where he died in 1998.

On reaching maturity at three to four years of age, Kurt is intended to become the breeder stallion for the San Diego Zoo herd to pass Kuporovic's genes into the larger captive Przewalski's horse population and thereby increase the genetic variation of the species.