The Przewalski horse: Potential historic range (Part 6)

The goal here is not to draw the horses’ precise range at any given time during the Holocene, which is rather impossible, but to estimate their potential presence on the steppes over the past 4,000 years based on the written sources quoted in Part 4 and Part 5, the list of which is probably not exhaustive. The account of the Machurian mass hunt cannot be used due to the lack of spatial indications and the immensity of the Manchu empire in c. 1650.

The various geographical locations matching the written sources (in color) are superimposed on the borders of East-Asian drylands (in wine color) which encompass areas of prime Takhi grassland habitat. A detailed map of the vegetation contained within these border is available here.

The maps are shown in chronological order.

Shang Dynasty (1766BC-1122BC)

Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD)

Trophy Takhi hunting in Ordos, Gansu, Shaanxi and Mongolia during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD)

Accounts by Monk Bodova (11th c.)

Cradle of Genghis Khan’s Mongol empire and Ordos region in c. 1200

Approximative territory inhabited by Khalkha mongols in c. 1630

Area of John Bell’s sightings in 1719-1722

Takhi hunting ground for the Grum-Grzhimailo brothers in 1889-1890

Area of C. Hagenbeck’sc captures at the turn of the 20th century

These various sources and corresponding maps hint at a widespread Takhi presence on the East-asian steppe, beyond in areas of Southern Siberia and possibly in portions of the Shang Civilization’s territory during a substantial part of the Holocene.

The original source map for these various maps is available here. The maps were established based on the following sources: