Wild horses return to Spain’s Iberian highlands after 10,000 years

For the first time in more than 10,000 years, wild horses once again roam Spain’s northwestern highlands. The 35 horses introduced by Rewilding Spain are bringing renewed resilience to the land, Mongabay senior editor Jeremy Hance reported. In 2023, an initial 16 Przewalski’s horses (Equus ferus przewalskii), the world’s last fully wild horse, were introduced to the municipality of Villanueva de Alcorón in Guadalajara, a sparsely populated province two hours from Madrid, Spain’s capital city. “They are special,” Manuel Villa, a herd manager with Rewilding Spain, told Hance. “For me, every day I go to work is like the first: the same excitement … I always say, ‘God, they are beautiful.’” Horses are a key element for rewilding the Iberian highlands, which today are mostly made up of land lef