Azerbaijan fights to protect national animal from extinction

Emily Wither, for CNN

Updated 1406 GMT (2206 HKT) June 4, 2015

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The Karabakh horse is known for its strength, speed and endurance. The animal is of great cultural importance to the people of Azerbaijan.
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Azerbaijan's national emblem – The Karabakh horse is known for its strength, speed and endurance. The animal is of great cultural importance to the people of Azerbaijan.
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Players riding Karabakh horses play Chovgan, an early form of polo, in Baku ahead of the European Games in the Azerbaijani capital.
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National sport – Players riding Karabakh horses play Chovgan, an early form of polo, in Baku ahead of the European Games in the Azerbaijani capital.
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Cross-breeding and the Armenian-Azerbaijani war has seen numbers of the Karabakh decrease significantly.
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Azerbaijan's national emblem – Cross-breeding and the Armenian-Azerbaijani war has seen numbers of the Karabakh decrease significantly.
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Players prepare for a game of Chovgan on a sunny afternoon in Baku.
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Meeting their match – Players prepare for a game of Chovgan on a sunny afternoon in Baku.
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Azerbaijan's Ministry of Agriculture has drawn up a number of horse breeding programs and taken steps to improve veterinary services to try and protect the breed and increase numbers.
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Azerbaijan's national emblem – Azerbaijan's Ministry of Agriculture has drawn up a number of horse breeding programs and taken steps to improve veterinary services to try and protect the breed and increase numbers.
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The mountain-steppe racing horse is named after the geographical region where it was originally bred. The Karabakh horse is the result of cross-breeding and stands out with what's been described as its 'golden glow.'
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Azerbaijan's national emblem – The mountain-steppe racing horse is named after the geographical region where it was originally bred. The Karabakh horse is the result of cross-breeding and stands out with what's been described as its 'golden glow.'
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A German company is assisting the Azerbaijani government with gene research by establishing the horses genetic profiling and setting up a system of identification to track the breed.
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Azerbaijan's national emblem – A German company is assisting the Azerbaijani government with gene research by establishing the horses genetic profiling and setting up a system of identification to track the breed.
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Azerbaijan Karabakh horseBaku Chovgan European Games Karabakh horsesAzerbaijan Karabakh horseBaku Chovgan European Games Karabakh horsesAzerbaijan Karabakh horseAzerbaijan Karabakh horseAzerbaijan Karabakh horse

Story highlights

  • The Karabakh horse is Azerbaijan's national animal
  • There are less than 1,000 Karabakh bred horses left in the world
  • The government is running a horse breeding programs to save the animal from extinction

(CNN)Tough, strong and noble; these are the sorts of qualities one would expect from a national symbol.

The fabled Karabakh horse is a rare and beautiful animal that is of great importance to Azerbaijanis.
    But the country's national animal that can be found everywhere from its stories to its postage stamps is faced with extinction.
    In the thickly forested foothills of Sheki, a small city 300km (187 miles) from the capital Baku, is one of world's largest and purest Karabakh herds.
    Their owner, Yashar Guluzade, has been restoring the breed for over a decade in this unspoilt mountainous region.
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    He says that conflict and a difficult economic situation have led to their decline.
    "At the beginning of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict the horses were continually transferred from one place to another and this was one of the reasons for the s