Przewalski's Horse- Training progress
May 1, 2026
We would like to provide an update on the training of Przewalski's Horse at Tama Zoo, which was published in December 2025.
As mentioned in the previous article, we have become quite proficient at training the robot to target the animal, so we are now moving on to the next step towards our goal of drawing blood without anesthesia.
Tama Zoo 's Przewalski's Horse 's horse enclosure does not have a dedicated space for treatment or training. With the safety of both the animals and people in mind, we carefully considered with the veterinarian to find a suitable location for blood sampling as we moved to the next step. Ultimately, we decided to move the training area to a large exercise area and guide the horse to the wooden fence on the pathway side, because it would minimize the psychological burden on Przewalski's Horse 's horse (it would be spacious and have an escape route) and would also be easy for people to reach.
The current challenge is to keep Przewalski's Horse 's horses in a stable posture. The fence is spaced far enough apart that it's easy to reach Przewalski's Horse' necks (where the injection needle is inserted), but there's also a risk that they might stick their heads out. We had the veterinarian in charge of blood collection check the progress of the training, and he said that the ideal state is when the neck is extended and the head position remains still.
Therefore, we started training with the goal of "getting the animal to continue eating in the same position." To get the animal to keep its face in the food bowl while eating, we made the apples we gave it during training smaller than before, anticipating that it would eat them slowly and gradually over a longer period of time.
However, it wasn't that simple. Once it had a bit of apple in its mouth, it would lift its head and start chewing. Furthermore, perhaps because it was wary of being fed in a place where it didn't normally eat, on the first day it was startled by the sound of more apple being added to the food bowl and jumped away.
After repeating the training about three times on different days, it gradually got used to it and started eating without jumping away.
Unlike domestic horses, Przewalski's Horse 's horses are very wary animals, but Kvaji, who is currently in training, is showing changes day by day, so I feel he has a very adaptable personality. He is spending more time with his face in the food bowl, but he still lifts his head to chew. We are considering changing the apple to a liquid or paste to encourage him to keep licking the bottom of the food bowl.
Training sessions sometimes take place during park hours, so you might be able to see them in action. Getting used to being observed by multiple people is an important factor in simulating actual blood sampling and treatment situations. If you visit, we would appreciate it if you could observe quietly.
[Shioya, Tama Zoo]