WINDHOEK, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The wild horses of Namibia increased with the recent birth of a foal, according to Namibia Wild horse Foundation on Friday.

The non-profit organization in a statement said, not one foal has survived since 2012 and the introduction of the new foal is a huge step in the survival of the wild horses of the Namib Desert.

"After a five-year drought and continual predation by a pack of hyenas, the Namib horse population has been through a tough time," the foundation added.

In 2013 alone, the hyenas caught and killed a hundred horses, fifty of them are foals. The population plummeted from 286 to the 79 horses still alive today, 80 if the newborn foal is included, the foundation said.

The foundation further said another foal is also expected this year and others are expected in 2019 and they hope that this is a new beginning for the century-old population that has been hovering on the brink of extinction.

Meanwhile the Namibia Wild Horses Foundation over the past several years has provided feed for the horses to sustain them over the drought period, with generous donations from the public.