THE LAST WILD HORSE

The Przhevalsky, a relatively small, husky horse with brushy mane and striped forelegs, is in danger of extinction; last seen in its native territory, the Asian steppe, in 1968, the species now resides in several European and American zoos and breeding stations. The particulars about the Przhevalsky, named for a Russian explorer who spotted a herd in 1881, are introduced in the first third of this somewhat inflated book. The second third, interesting but tangential, chronicles the little-known life of Przhevalsky himself, both before and after his sighting of the horses. And the last part traces zoo efforts to breed the horses and raises the dilemma of future plans: should zoo populations continue to breed or should some specimens be returned to the steppe and be allowed to breed naturally. ""Is one shaggy, standoffish equid worth all this?"" Weeks asks. Perhaps, but Alice Hopf's Wild Cousins of the Horse (p. 1056, J-272) looks at the Przhevalsky (and others) with more vigor and less padding.