Hustai National Park

Home to the World's Only Truly Wild Horse

Around 100 kilometres southwest of Ulaanbaatar, Hustai National Park protects one of conservation’s great comeback stories: the takhi, or Przewalski’s horse, the world’s last remaining wild horse species and the only one never domesticated by humans. Declared a Specially Protected Area in 1993, Hustai’s 50,000 hectares of mountain steppe now support one of the largest free-roaming takhi populations on Earth.

Back From Extinction

Takhi vanished from the wild by 1969, surviving only through captive breeding programmes descended from just twelve founding animals in European zoos. Starting in 1992, a Dutch-Mongolian partnership reintroduced 84 horses to Hustain Nuruu across five transports over eight years — and today more than 300 takhi roam the park, descended entirely from that founding population.

A Landscape Shaped for Recovery

Hustai’s mix of mountain steppe, birch forest and river valley also supports over 1,000 red deer, several hundred Mongolian gazelle, and populations of argali sheep and roe deer, alongside 217 recorded bird species. The sacred Hustai Mountain at the park’s heart has long been an object of local worship, predating its conservation role by generations.

Ancient History Alongside Modern Conservation

Beyond its wildlife, Hustai holds archaeological sites including 4,000-year-old deer stones and burial mounds, underscoring how deeply horses and the steppe landscape have shaped Mongolian life across millennia. Visitors can combine wildlife viewing with stays at nearby nomadic ger camps, learning directly from herding families who partnered in the reintroduction effort.

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• Spot wild takhi herds roaming open mountain steppe
• Learn the full story of their reintroduction from extinction
• See 4,000-year-old deer stones within the park
• Combine a visit with a nomadic ger camp stay nearby