Chinese rare horse documentary airs on Belgium TV

Screenshot from “La Jardin” extraordinaire - the Przewalski’s horses.

Brussels (People’s Daily) - A French-language documentary about the Przewalski’s horse aired on Belgium’s popular RTB network on Monday. The documentary was featured on “La Jardin Extraordinaire,” a 53-year-old television series focusing on nature and rare animals.

The Przewalski’s horses are native to China’s Junggar Basin in Xinjiang and the surrounding areas of Gansu and Inner Mongolia Provinces. Extinct from the wild during the 1960s, they were bred in captivity and later released into the wild in the 1990s.
Named after the Russian geographer and explorer Nikolay Przhevalsky who discovered the horses in the 1880s, today they are considered the only wild horse breed in the world.

Stretching across Belgium, the Czech Republic and China, the 30-minute documentary reveals the process of discovery, extinction, and rebirth of the Przewalski’s horse.

The Breeding Research Center in Xinjiang, China, which has made significant achievements in protecting the horses, served as the film’s primary location. The Chinese Embassy in Brussels, RTBF and Belgium’s Han-sur-Lesse Wildlife Park with the production.

“To protect the environment is to protect humankind, and this is the core idea we wanted to express through the documentary. The co-production established friendships across languages and national boundaries,” said Tanguy Dumortier, the film’s narrator.

Since its original broadcast, it has received attention throughout Belgium and elsewhere due in part to the network’s website and through social media platforms Facebook and Twitter.

Brussels’ resident Alex Roure enjoyed the documentary’s visual style and cinematography.

“It was interesting to see how China strives to protect the wild horses, and how partnering with foreign countries can make a difference in protecting and saving endangered species,” said Alex.