ALMATY – Kazakhstan is reporting continued growth in several rare ungulate populations while expanding programs to return animals that disappeared from parts of the country to their natural habitats. From Przewalski’s horses and kulans to the recent release of a tiger into the wild, conservation policy is moving beyond protecting surviving wildlife toward rebuilding populations and the ecosystems needed to sustain them.
Przewalski’s horses are the last truly wild horses native to the steppes of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China. Photo credit: Nagima Abuova/The Astana Times According to 2025 wildlife census data released by Kazakhstan’s Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry, populations of several rare ungulates have continued to grow.
The country recorded 1,240 Bukhara deer, 16,122 goitered gazelles, 4,702 kulans and 17,604 argali, reported the Central Asia Climate Foundation. Saiga numbers have grown on an even larger scale. Kazakhstan’s three saiga populations totaled nearly 3.98 million animals in 2025, including 2.3 million in the Ural population, 1.6 million in the Betpak-Dala population and 78,000 in the Ustyurt population.
The figures illustrate one of the major changes in Kazakhstan’s conservation agenda: protecting wildlife is no longer limited to preventing the disappearance of existing populations. The government is using reintroduction programs to restore species to areas where they had previously disappeared.
From protecting species to rebuilding populations Reintroduction is a more complex process than simply releasing animals into the wild. For a population to survive, conservationists must ensure that suitable habitat, food sources and protection mechanisms already exist.
This approach is visible in several of Kazakhstan’s current programs. The Altyn-Emel National Park. Photo credit: The Committee of Forestry and Wildlife of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources. In the Altyn Dala State Nature Reserve in the Kostanai Region, the Center for the Reintroduction of Wild Ungulates, established in 2017, currently holds 14 Przewalski ‘s horses, including 12 mares and two stallions.
Kazakhstan plans to bring an additional 40 horses to the country by the end of 2029. The program is part of a broader effort to restore a species that disappeared from Kazakhstan’s wild landscapes. Its significance therefore lies not only in increasing the number of animals held in the country, but ultimately in establishing a population capable of surviving in its historical habitat.
Kazakhstan is pursuing a similar strategy with kulans. A total of 66 animals have been relocated as part of population restoration efforts, including 42 to the Ile-Balkhash State Nature Reserve and 24 to Altyn Dala. The reintroduction of large herbivores can also have consequences beyond the survival of individual species.
Ungulates are part of wider food chains and ecosystems, meaning their restoration can help create the ecological conditions necessary for other wildlife to return.