I’m going to start posting drawings of various subjects since, after all, I am an artist, not a photographer or book reviewer. Today’s drawing is of two young takhi stallions that I photographed at Khomiin Tal, the third takhi reintroduction site after Gobi B and Hustai Nuruu. It is located in the Zavkhan province or aimag, which is in western Mongolia. I read on one of the Mongolian news websites that the herders out there lost 250,000 livestock over the winter. I haven’t found any info on the takhi, but I know that people stay out at the research camp and feed them if necessary. Twenty-two horses were initially shipped to Khomiin Tal from a semi-reserve in France which is located at high altitude in the French Alps. I would think that there would be over two dozen horses by now.

These two young guys were “feeling their oats” when I saw them in the morning and were pushing, mouthing and generally harassing each other. What made it nice for me is that they were Doing Something instead of just standing around or grazing with their heads down. Getting reference of wild animals actually moving and behaving naturally is kind of a gold standard in wildlife art. More next week!