Khulan Return to Mongolia After 65 Years of Railway Barrier

Mongolia’s khulan have returned to eastern mongolia after more than 65 years away, with monitoring now showing the Asiatic wild ass crossing the Trans-Mongolian Railway barrier and beginning to re-establish in its former range. The change follows fence removals along several stretches of the railway and a monitored safe passage zone near the China-Mongolia border that was left free of fencing last May.

Wildlife Conservation Society Findings

Findings published this month in the journal Oryx say the interventions are working, with khulan now regularly present in multiple groups east of the railway. Follow-up surveys recorded hundreds of khulan on the eastern side, adding the clearest sign yet that the species is moving back into habitat it had lost for decades.

Buuveibaatar Bayarbaatar, a senior scientist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said: "Documenting khulan crossing this long-standing barrier and beginning to re-establish in their former range represents an extraordinary conservation breakthrough". He added: "It demonstrates that restoring connectivity in fragmented landscapes can support population recovery for wide-ranging species."

Trans-Mongolian Railway Crossings

Wildlife Conservation Society, the Mongolian government, and private partners removed fencing along several stretches of the railway, which had restricted movement of khulan and other migratory species for decades. The monitored safe passage zone near the China-Mongolia border was designated last May and created a fenced-free crossing point that monitoring later showed khulan used in recent years.

Justine Shanti Alexander, WCS Mongolia Country Director, said: "The return of khulan to eastern Mongolia reflects years of collaborative work with provincial authorities, border protection agencies, and railway managers, as well as careful testing of temporary fence gaps that showed wildlife could cross safely without increasing train collisions". That account leaves the practical challenge in plain view: the crossings have to keep working for wildlife while staying compatible with the railway they cross.

Eastern Mongolia Population Recovery

The Mongolian Gobi supports approximately 91,000 khulan, more than 84% of the global total, so the eastern Mongolia return reaches beyond one local herd. The species still faces habitat fragmentation, competition with livestock, illegal hunting, and climate change, even as plans advance for a new local protected area east of the railway.

For readers watching the conservation effort, the next step is not a ceremony but whether the new protected area can build on the crossings already recorded and keep the railway from becoming a hard boundary again.