Lecture on the Tarpans

Dutch student Jael van der Sluis presented in a lecture for the students of Otets Paisii high school the results of her research on the tarpans (wild horses) which were reintroduced in the area of the abandoned village of Sbor, Krumovgrad Municipality in September 2011. The tarpans have lived in Europe hundreds of years ago.

For almost five months Jael has been doing a research on the behavior and adaptation of the tarpan herd.

The reintroduction of tarpan is done for the first time in Bulgaria. It was implemented within the activities for conservation and restoration of wild nature in the region, part of the Bulgarian-Dutch project New Thracian Gold.

Jael observed the horses many hours and found out that the horses were behaving abnormal for wild horses. This might be due to the fact that they weren’t free anymore (for adaptation) and were being fed, rather than they had to search for their food. Normally horses graze 50%, rest 35%, move 10% and stand 5% of the time. The Tarpans, however, grazed most of the time (95%), and were only resting 2%, eating 1%, standing 1% and moving 1% of the time.

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