The (also known as the Kagoshima horse) is a Japanese

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

native to the

Tokara Islands The is an archipelago in the Nansei Islands, and are part of the Satsunan Islands, which is in turn part of the Ryukyu Archipelago. The chain consists of twelve small islands located between Yakushima and Amami-Oshima. The islands have a tota ...

, a group of islands in Kagoshima Prefecture at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu. Its height is about . Its coat color is predominantly seal brown. The Tokara has a good tolerance for heat and is used for agriculture, riding and

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

processing.

History

In 1952 the horses were discovered on

Takarajima , literally "treasure island", is one of the Tokara Islands, belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture. The island, 7.14 km² in area, has a population of 116 persons. The island can only be reached by boat as it has no airport; there is regular ferr ...

by Shigeyuki Hayashida, a professor of

Kagoshima University , abbreviated to , is a Japanese national university located in Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. History The university was established in 1949 consolidating the following schools because of educational reform in occupied Japan. * - e ...

, and designated the Tokara horse. It was theorized that the horses were brought to

from

Kikaijima is one of the Satsunan Islands, classed with the Amami archipelago between Kyūshū and Okinawa. The island, in area, has a population of approximately 7,657 persons. Administratively the island forms the town of Kikai, Kagoshima Prefecture ...

around 1900. In 1953, the Tokara horse was designated a

natural monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, na ...

of Kagoshima Prefecture. When Professor Hayashida first discovered the horses, he counted 43. Their numbers gradually declined during the 1960s because of agricultural mechanization, however, and it was difficult to monitor the population on Takarajima. Therefore, some of the horses were transferred to the Mt. Kaimon Natural Park and Iriki Farm, part of the agricultural department of

Endangered population

By 1974, there was only a single Tokara horse remaining on the Tokara Islands. This horse was transferred to Nakanoshima on the Tokaras, and was bred with Tokara horses which were reintroduced from the mainland. Currently, about ten Tokara horses are kept at Nakanoshima. A breeding farm is located at Takao, at the center of one of the islands. The horse population at Nakanoshima and on the mainland is increasing, and there is currently a total of 107 Tokara horses. Tokara-Penn’s three mares are on display at the Hirakawa Zoo in Kagoshima. Due to its small stature, the Tokara horse is no longer in demand as a plow horse on the Tokaras or the mainland and has limited utility as a riding horse; therefore, finding a practical use for the Tokara horse is a problem which will affect its future protection.

References

{{Portal bar, Japan, Horses Horse breeds Kagoshima Prefecture Horse breeds originating in Japan