14 rare Przewalski horses have flown from Budapest to Orenburg on an Atran Airlines Boeing 737-400SF as part of a reintroduction programme.

The animals from the Hortobagy National Park where tranquilised by staff before being loaded onto trucks. They were put into separate transport cages hauled by Horse Trans Cargo to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport where Celebi Ground Handling staff loaded them onto the 737-400SF.

Budapest Airport cargo manager, Joszef Kossuth says: “This special livestock cargo has not been the first to be handled at Budapest Airport, and ground handling staff did their best, as usual, to ensure a most comfortable flight for these valuable wild animals.”

The Przewalski horses are native to Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia but became extinct from their original habitat. The 14 horses are in quarantine and acclimatisation at Orenburg National Reserve, and will join a group of wild horses previously imported from France.