Heck Horse
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| Details: | |
| Germany, D | |
| Species | Horse |
| Management | feral |
| History | The German zoologist and Director of the Munich Zoo, professor Heinz Heck, started a selective breeding programme in the early 1930´s in the hope of retro-breeding the extinct tarpan (Bunzel-Drüke 2001). They crossbred Gotland horses, koniks, Iceland ponies and Przewalski´s horses (Bunzel-Drüke 2001, Heck & Heck 1934, Heck s.a., Slob 1966). The first retro-bred tarpan or Heck horse, a colt, was born on 22 May 1933 at the Tierpark Hellabrunn in Munich, Germany (Oklahoma State University, 1998). These horses still survive as Heck Horses or German tarpans. The closest living relatives of the extinct tarpan are konik horses, Heck horses, Hucul ponies and other domestic horse breeds (Equus ferus caballus or Equus caballus). The Asian Wild Horse or Przewalski Horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) is the only surviving wild subspecies of the wild horse. http://www.petermaas.nl/extinct/speciesinfo/tarpan.htm |
| Remarks | The Dülmener horses from Merfelder Bruch in North Rhine-Westphalia have been mated in recent decades almost exclusively with Polish Konik stallions. Thus Konik, Heck and Dülmener horses have increasingly genetic and physical characteristics in common and have developed to the same breeding goal - the greatest possible resemblance to the Tarpan. |
| Source of information | |
| Hyperlink | http://www.petermaas.nl/extinct/articles/selectivebreeding.htm |
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Heck Horse Wesel: http://www.bskw.de/tier/heckrind.htm |
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| http://www.petermaas.nl/extinct/articles/selectivebreeding.htm |
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