Association pour la sauvegarde du cheval de Przewalski: TAKH
Association for Przewalski horse's conservation
The TAKH association was founded in 1990 to carry out a project for the reintroduction and conservation of Przewalski’s horses between France and Mongolia. Thanks to Luc Hoffmann (1923-2016) and his daughter Maja, Claudia Feh, an ethologist specializing in the behavior of horses living in semi-liberty who founded the “Association pour la sauvegarde du cheval de Przewalski: TAKH”. In 1993, 11 zoo-born Przewalski’s horses arrived in Lozère, France, on the Causse Méjean in the Parc National des Cévennes (PNC). This 400-hectare private site was initially designed as an acclimatisation platform, enabling these captive-born horses to rediscover a way of life without human social interaction, before reintroducing them to their historic habitat in Mongolia. Ten years later, 22 horses (families and bachelors) born on the Causse Méjean arrived in Mongolia in 2004 and 2005. In 2020, the threshold of 100 horses was crossed in the Khomyn Tal reserve. In the same year, the 410 km² reintroduction zone and its surrounding area acquired national park status. In Mongolia, the horse population is now managed by a Mongolian sister NGO: KTT (Khomyn Talin Takhi), which in 2023 became the administrator of Khomyn Tal National Park (KTNP).
This project was made possible thanks to the technical and financial support of WWF France, the MAVA Foundation and numerous donors and volunteers. Today, TAKH pursues the preservation of Przewalski’s horses in France by developing international partnerships, links between science and civil society, and by examining a model for the coexistence of living species (including humans) on its Causse Méjean conservation site in a global context of climate change and health issues.
Today, after the closure of the MAVA Foundation in 2023, the project has a broader mission: locally in its protected area and also internationally as a member of a Przewalski’s horse network (PH alliance). Firstly, we aim to maintain a viable population of Przewalski’s horses on the Causse Méjean as a genetic reservoir for further translocations. Secondly, we aim to capitalise on 30 years of experience and data on Przewalski’s horse living in semi-wild conditions, and evaluate the effect of free grazing on the steppe landscape and ecosystem. The project postulates that the Takh PH reserve on the Causse Méjean will cooperate with other rewilding / reintroduction projects as a demonstration site to field test, train and implement new monitoring methodologies (horses, fauna and habitat) and tools (drones, AI, spatial observation). Thirdly, TAKH has invested over 3 million euros to renovate the old hamlet, a typical UNESCO pastoral heritage site, with the aim of acting as a scientific mediator between policy-makers, researchers, media and artists, education, ecotourism, breeders, conservationists and citizens. Throughout the year, we host transdisciplinary residencies, events, workshops and visitors.
Become a scientific and educational resource center open to international and transdisciplinary field programs concerning rewilding, pastoralism, biodiversity, steppe, climate change adaptation, coviability, one-health.
- Selection of a suitable reintroduction site in Mongolia, preparation of a long-term conservation program with local communities and administrative services, 2 successful translocations (2004-2005) of 22 horses to Mongolia (Khomyn Tal).
- Creation (2014) of a Mongolian NGO (KTT) and transfer of the conservation management plan, with scientific assistance to KTT until 2022.
- The Khomyn Tal reintroduction site is declared a national park (2021).
- Translocations of 52 horses have also been carried out in various countries: Russia (Orenburg) and Spain (Atapuerca and San Cebrio de Muda).
- Partnerships with several other PH reserves in Europe and Mongolia, and various translocation projects in Europe.
- Active networks with universities and scientists in France, Belgium, England, Spain... to set up long-term scientific, educational and ecotourism projects.
- Today, 36 Przewalski's horses live free on the Causse Méjean and almost 150 horses live at Seer (Khomyn tal).
- Takh manages 400 ha in the heart of the Cévennes National Park, dedicated to Przewalski's horses and, beyond that, to all the biodiversity linked to their ecosystem.
-Takh is also a scientific base for studying Przewalski's horses and their ecosystem, open to visitors from the general public.
- Since 2021, we have been renovating 10 buildings in a hamlet to accommodate professional residences, seminars, workshops and events.
- Takh is also a Causse & Cévennes UNESCO "Living Cultural Landscape of Mediterranean Agropastoralism" ambassador and has been awarded the "Esprit Parc" label by the Cévennes National Park.
The TAKH association was founded in 1990 to carry out a project for the reintroduction and conservation of Przewalski’s horses between France and Mongolia. Thanks to Luc Hoffmann (1923-2016) and his daughter Maja, Claudia Feh, an ethologist specializing in the behavior of horses living in semi-liberty who founded the “Association pour la sauvegarde du cheval de Przewalski: TAKH”. In 1993, 11 zoo-born Przewalski’s horses arrived in Lozère, France, on the Causse Méjean in the Parc National des Cévennes (PNC). This 400-hectare private site was initially designed as an acclimatisation platform, enabling these captive-born horses to rediscover a way of life without human social interaction, before reintroducing them to their historic habitat in Mongolia. Ten years later, 22 horses (families and bachelors) born on the Causse Méjean arrived in Mongolia in 2004 and 2005. In 2020, the threshold of 100 horses was crossed in the Khomyn Tal reserve. In the same year, the 410 km² reintroduction zone and its surrounding area acquired national park status. In Mongolia, the horse population is now managed by a Mongolian sister NGO: KTT (Khomyn Talin Takhi), which in 2023 became the administrator of Khomyn Tal National Park (KTNP).
This project was made possible thanks to the technical and financial support of WWF France, the MAVA Foundation and numerous donors and volunteers. Today, TAKH pursues the preservation of Przewalski’s horses in France by developing international partnerships, links between science and civil society, and by examining a model for the coexistence of living species (including humans) on its Causse Méjean conservation site in a global context of climate change and health issues.
Today, after the closure of the MAVA Foundation in 2023, the project has a broader mission: locally in its protected area and also internationally as a member of a Przewalski’s horse network (PH alliance). Firstly, we aim to maintain a viable population of Przewalski’s horses on the Causse Méjean as a genetic reservoir for further translocations. Secondly, we aim to capitalise on 30 years of experience and data on Przewalski’s horse living in semi-wild conditions, and evaluate the effect of free grazing on the steppe landscape and ecosystem. The project postulates that the Takh PH reserve on the Causse Méjean will cooperate with other rewilding / reintroduction projects as a demonstration site to field test, train and implement new monitoring methodologies (horses, fauna and habitat) and tools (drones, AI, spatial observation). Thirdly, TAKH has invested over 3 million euros to renovate the old hamlet, a typical UNESCO pastoral heritage site, with the aim of acting as a scientific mediator between policy-makers, researchers, media and artists, education, ecotourism, breeders, conservationists and citizens. Throughout the year, we host transdisciplinary residencies, events, workshops and visitors.
Become a scientific and educational resource center open to international and transdisciplinary field programs concerning rewilding, pastoralism, biodiversity, steppe, climate change adaptation, coviability, one-health.
- Selection of a suitable reintroduction site in Mongolia, preparation of a long-term conservation program with local communities and administrative services, 2 successful translocations (2004-2005) of 22 horses to Mongolia (Khomyn Tal).
- Creation (2014) of a Mongolian NGO (KTT) and transfer of the conservation management plan, with scientific assistance to KTT until 2022.
- The Khomyn Tal reintroduction site is declared a national park (2021).
- Translocations of 52 horses have also been carried out in various countries: Russia (Orenburg) and Spain (Atapuerca and San Cebrio de Muda).
- Partnerships with several other PH reserves in Europe and Mongolia, and various translocation projects in Europe.
- Active networks with universities and scientists in France, Belgium, England, Spain... to set up long-term scientific, educational and ecotourism projects.
- Today, 36 Przewalski's horses live free on the Causse Méjean and almost 150 horses live at Seer (Khomyn tal).
- Takh manages 400 ha in the heart of the Cévennes National Park, dedicated to Przewalski's horses and, beyond that, to all the biodiversity linked to their ecosystem.
-Takh is also a scientific base for studying Przewalski's horses and their ecosystem, open to visitors from the general public.
- Since 2021, we have been renovating 10 buildings in a hamlet to accommodate professional residences, seminars, workshops and events.
- Takh is also a Causse & Cévennes UNESCO "Living Cultural Landscape of Mediterranean Agropastoralism" ambassador and has been awarded the "Esprit Parc" label by the Cévennes National Park.