The Syrian wild ass (E. hemionus hemippus) went extinct in 1927. The subspecies found in southern Mongolia (E. hemionus hemionus) contains several thousand individuals. All of the other subspecies exist in the hundreds. Conservation status varies from subspecies to subspecies. (Reading et al, 2001)
The largest threat to all of the six subspecies is competition with livestock. The species is desired by nomadic livestock herders for harvesting.
US Federal List: endangered
CITES: appendix i
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: critically endangered
E. hemionus has a well-developed strategy for anti-predator defense. Stallions from more than one family group cooperate to chase off predators. The frequent occurrence of large groups aids this ability. Wolves are the only known predator of the Asian wild ass other than humans. (Feh et al, 2001)
Known Predators:
The color of the Asian wild ass varies depending on distribution and season. As a rule, they are reddish brown in the summer and lighten to yellowish brown in the winter. The underneath part of the animals is white or buff. These asses are characterized by a thick black stripe with white edges that runs down the middle of their backs. They also have small feet and short legs. Individuals may be 1-1.4 m tall at the shoulders. (Glenn, 1999)
Range mass: 200 to 260 kg.
Range length: 1.98 to 2.44 m.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
In captivity, Asian wild asses have lived for 26 years. The oldest found specimen in the wild was 12-14 years old. Most E. hemionus live between four and eight years. A majority of these die between four and six years old, not long after entering sexual maturity. (Feh et al, 2001)
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 14 (high) years.
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 26 (high) years.
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 4 to 8 years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 38.8 years.
E. hemionus prefers flat country. It primarily grazes and rests on highland or lowland desert, semidesert or steppe. They are never found more than 30 km from a permanent oasis or spring. (Glenn, 1999)
Habitat Regions: temperate
Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune
In the late Pleistocene, Equus hemionus flourished as far east as West Germany. Currently, at least one subspecies has been found in Russia, China, Iran, and India. However, the major population (over half the total number) of E. hemionus is found in southern Mongolia. (Feh et al, 2001)
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native ); oriental (Native )
The Asian wild ass is strictly herbivorous. They tend to eat perennial grasses (noncotyledons) that are of species of Stipa or Agropyron. They also eat herbs and bark. (Glenn, 1999)
Plant Foods: leaves; wood, bark, or stems
Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore )
During the first half of the 1900s, Asian wild asses were hunted for meat and for their coats. (Glenn, 1999)
Positive Impacts: food
The protected status of the Asian wild ass has been challenged recently by nomadic herders and other farmers in Mongolia. They believe populations in southern Mongolia are becoming too large. The Asian wild ass competes with domestic grazers for water and food resources. (Reading et al., 2001)
Negative Impacts: crop pest
Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
Substantial competition occurs between wild asses and domestic herds. The habitat of E. hemionus is often restricted from the optimal to the most arid parts of an area by this competition. (Glenn, 1999)
Equus hemionus are monogamous. Stallions tend to stay with the mare and foal year-round. (Feh et al, 2001)
Mating System: monogamous
Less than half of the foals born survive through the first year. (Feh et al, 2001)
Breeding season: April to October
Range number of offspring: 1 (high) .
Average number of offspring: 0.5.
Average gestation period: 11-12 months.
Average weaning age: 12-24 months.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 3-4 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 3-4 years.
Key Reproductive Features: seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (Internal ); viviparous
Average gestation period: 339 days.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male: 1187 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 1157 days.
Other than predator defense by the male, the mare mostly raises the foal. (Feh et al, 2001)
Parental Investment: male parental care ; female parental care
The Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) is a short-legged species of horse (family Equidae) native to the xeric mountain and desert steppes of Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, Israel Central Asia and Mongolia. Similar in look to donkeys, they reach a slightly larger size, about 2.1 meters (6.9 feet) long and 200-260 kg (440-595 lbs).Their coat is red-brown in summer months and becomes yellower in winter, and they have a white-fringed black stripe down their back.Asiatic wild asses are primarily grazers, feeding preferentially on low shrubs and grasses including Stipa glareosa, Agropyron cristatum and Achnatherum Artemisia, grasses, Anabasis spp., Russian thistle (Salsola spp.), saxaul (Haloxylon ammodendron) and pea shrubs (Caragana spp.).When grasses are scarcer in drier seasons, however, their feeding strategy shifts to a browsing pattern and they will eat more broadly to include woody plants.
Equus hemionus includes at least four living subspecies (E. h. hemionus, the Mongolian wild ass; E. h. kulan, the Turkmenian kulan; E. h. onager, the Persian onager; and E. h. khur, the Indian wild ass).Another subspecies, the Syrian wild ass, E. h. hemippus, went extinct in 1927. Before molecular studies established it as its own species, the kiang, or Asiatic wild ass (now Equus kiang), was also considered a subspecies of E. hemionus.
Historically, this species ranged throughout Mongolia, much of China, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, however in the last 100 years its range has become significantly smaller and fragmented, with population numbers in decline.In the last 16 years its global population size has decreased 52%, to a current estimated population size of 8398 individuals.Threats to this species vary by local but include poaching for meat and hides, increase in human activities, competition for range land and water, fragmentation of grazing area and degradation of environment. The Asiatic wild ass is legally protected in Mongolia, Turkmenistan, Iran and India.All subspecies are included in CITES appendix I or II, and it has endangered status on the IUCN red list of threatened species. Researchers note that populations can crash to dangerously low levels in a very short time.Some reintroduction of species into native lands has been successful, but more research into basic behavior, ecology and disease control is called for.
(Moehlman, Shah and Feh 2008; Wikipedia 2014)
The onager (/ˈɒnədʒər/;[3] Equus hemionus /ˈɛkwəs hɪˈmaɪənəs/),[4][5] also known as hemione or Asiatic wild ass,[6] is a species of the family Equidae native to Asia. A member of the subgenus Asinus, the onager was described and given its binomial name by German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in 1775. Five subspecies have been recognized, one of which is extinct.
The Asiatic wild ass is larger than the African wild ass at about 290 kg (640 lb) and 2.1 m (6.9 ft) (head-body length). They are reddish-brown or yellowish-brown in color and have broad dorsal stripe on the middle of the back. Unlike most horses and donkeys, onagers have never been domesticated. They are among the fastest mammals, as they can run as fast as 64 km/h (40 mph) to 70 km/h (43 mph). The onager is closely related to the African wild ass, as they both shared the same ancestor. The kiang, formerly considered a subspecies of Equus hemionus, diverged from the Asiatic wild ass and has been acknowledged as a distinct species.[7]
The onager formerly had a wider range from southwest and central to northern Asian countries, such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Afghanistan, Russia, and Siberia; the prehistoric European wild ass subspecies ranged through Europe until the Bronze age.[8] During early 20th century, the species lost most of its ranges in the Middle East and Eastern Asia. Today, onagers live in deserts and other arid regions of Iran, Pakistan, India, and Mongolia, including in Central Asian hot and cold deserts of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and China.[1]
Other than deserts, it lives in grasslands, plains, steppes, and savannahs. Like many other large grazing animals, the onager's range has contracted greatly under the pressures of poaching and habitat loss.[6] Previously listed as Endangered, the onager has been classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2015.[2] Of the five subspecies, one is extinct, two are endangered, and two are near threatened; its status in China is not well known.[6] Persian onagers are currently being reintroduced in the Middle East as replacements for the extinct Syrian wild ass in the Arabian Peninsula, Israel and Jordan.
The specific name is from the Ancient Greek ἡμίονος, hēmíonos, from ἡμι-, hēmi-, 'half', and ὄνος, ónos, 'donkey'; thus, 'half-donkey' or mule. The term onager comes from the ancient Greek ὄναγρος, again from ὄνος, ónos, 'donkey', and ἄγριος, ágrios, 'wild'.
The species was commonly known as Asian wild ass, in which case the term onager was reserved for the E. h. onager subspecies,[6] more specifically known as the Persian onager. Until this day, the species share the same name, onager.
The onager is a member of the subgenus Asinus, belonging to the genus Equus and is classified under the family Equidae. The species was described and given its binomial name Equus hemionus by German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in 1775.
The Asiatic wild ass, among Old World equids, existed for more than 4 million years. The oldest divergence of Equus was the onager followed by the zebras and onwards.[9] A new species called the kiang (E. kiang), a Tibetan relative, was previously considered to be a subspecies of the onager as E. hemionus kiang, but recent molecular studies indicate it to be a distinct species, having diverged from the closest relative of the Mongolian wild ass's ancestor less than 500,000 years ago.[7]
Syrian wild ass (E. h. hemippus)
Persian onager (E. h. onager)
Indian wild ass (E. h. khur)
Turkmenian kulan (E. h. kulan)
Mongolian wild ass (E. h. hemionus)
Five widely recognized subspecies of the onager include:[6]
A sixth possible subspecies, the Gobi khulan (E. h. luteus,[2] also called the chigetai[11] or dziggetai) has been proposed, but may be synonymous with E. h. hemionus.
Debates over the taxonomic identity of the onager occurred until 1980. As of 2015, four living subspecies and one extinct subspecies of the Asiatic wild ass have been recognized. The Persian onager was formerly known as Equus onager, as it was thought to be a distinct species.
Onagers are the most horse-like of wild asses. They are short-legged compared with horses, and their coloring varies depending on the season. They are generally reddish-brown in color during the summer, becoming yellowish-brown or grayish-brown in the winter. They have a black stripe bordered in white that extends down the middle of the back. The belly, the rump, and the muzzle are white in most onagers, except for the Mongolian wild ass that has a broad black dorsal stripe bordered with white.
Onagers are larger than donkeys at about 200 to 290 kg (440 to 640 lb) in size and 2.1 to 2.5 m (6.9 to 8.2 ft) in head-body length. Male onagers are usually larger than females.
The genus Equus, which includes all extant equines, is believed to have evolved from Dinohippus via the intermediate form Plesippus. One of the oldest species is Equus simplicidens, described as zebra-like with a donkey-shaped head. The oldest fossil to date is about 3.5 million years old from Idaho, USA. The genus appears to have spread quickly into the Old World, with the similarly aged Equus livenzovensis documented from western Europe and Russia.[12]
Molecular phylogenies indicate the most recent common ancestor of all modern equids (members of the genus Equus) lived around 5.6 (3.9–7.8) million years ago (Mya). Direct paleogenomic sequencing of a 700,000-year-old middle Pleistocene horse metapodial bone from Canada implies a more recent 4.07 Mya for the most recent common ancestor within the range of 4.0 to 4.5 Mya.[13] The oldest divergencies are the Asian hemiones (subgenus E. (Asinus), including the kulan, onager, and kiang), followed by the African zebras (subgenera E. (Dolichohippus), and E. (Hippotigris)). All other modern forms including the domesticated horse (and many fossil Pliocene and Pleistocene forms) belong to the subgenus E. (Equus) which diverged about 4.8 (3.2–6.5) Mya.[9]
The onagers' favored habitats consist of desert plains, semideserts, oases, arid grasslands, savannahs, shrublands, steppes, mountainous steppes, and mountain ranges. The Turkmenian kulan and Mongolian wild asses are known to live in hot and colder deserts. The IUCN estimates about 28,000 mature individuals in total remain in the wild.[2]
During the late Pleistocene era around 40,000 years ago, the Asiatic wild ass ranged widely across Europe and in southwestern to northeastern Asia. The onager has been regionally extinct in Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and southern regions of Siberia.
The Mongolian wild ass lives in deserts, mountains, and grasslands of Mongolia and Inner Mongolian region of northern China. A few live in northern Xinjiang region of northwestern China, most of which live mainly in Kalamaili Nature Reserve. It is the most common subspecies, but its populations have drastically decreased to a few thousand due to years of poaching and habitat loss in East Asia. The Gobi Desert is the onager's main stronghold. It is regionally extinct in eastern Kazakhstan, southern Siberia, and the Manchurian region of China.
The Indian wild ass was once found throughout the arid parts and desert steppes of northwest India and Pakistan, but about 4,500 of them are found in a few very hot wildlife sanctuaries of Gujarat. The Persian onager is found in two subpopulations in southern and northern Iran. The larger population is found at Khar Turan National Park. However, it is extirpated from Afghanistan. The Turkmenian kulan used to be widespread in central to north Asia. However, it is now found in Turkmenistan and has been reintroduced in southern Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Asiatic wild asses are mostly active at dawn and dusk, even during the intense heat.
Like most equids, onagers are social animals. Stallions are either solitary or live in groups of two or three. The males have been observed holding harems of females, but in other studies, the dominant stallions defend territories that attract females. Differences in behaviour and social structure likely are the result of changes in climate, vegetation cover, predation, and hunting.
The social behavior of the Asian wild ass can vary widely, depending on different habitats and ranges, and on threats by predators including humans. In Mongolia and Central Asia (E. h. hemionus and E. h. kulan), an onager stallion can adopt harem-type social groups, with several mares and foals in large home areas in the southwest, or in territory-based social groups in the south and southeast. Also, annual large hikes occur, covering 4.5 km2 (1.7 sq mi) to 40 km2 (15 sq mi), where hiking in summer is more limited than in the winter. Onagers also occasionally form large group associations of 450 to 1,200 individuals, but this usually only occurs in places with food or water sources. As these larger groups dissolve again within a day, no overarching hierarchy apart from the ranking of the individual herds seems to exist. Young male onagers also frequently form "bachelor groups" during the winter. Such a lifestyle is also seen in the wild horse, the plains zebras (E. quagga) and mountain zebras (E. zebra).
Southern populations of onagers in the Middle East and South Asia tend to have a purely territorial life, where areas partly overlap. Dominant stallions have home ranges of 9 km2 (3.5 sq mi), but they can also be significantly larger. These territories include food and rest stops and permanent or periodic water sources. The waters are usually at the edge of a coalfield and not in the center. Mares with foals sometimes find themselves in small groups, in areas up to 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi), which overlap with those of the other groups and dominant stallions. Such features are also seen among Grévy's zebras (E. grevyi) and the African wild asses.
The Asian wild ass is sexually mature at two years old, and the first mating usually takes place at three to four years old.
Breeding is seasonal, and the gestation period of onagers is 11 months; the birth lasts a little more than 10 minutes. Mating and births occur from April to September, with an accumulation from June to July. The mating season in India is in the rainy season. The foal can stand and starts to nurse within 15 to 20 minutes. Females with young tend to form groups of up to five females. During rearing, a foal and dam remain close, but other animals and her own older offspring are displaced by the dam. Occasionally, stallions in territorial wild populations expel the young to mate with the mare again. Wild Asian wild asses reach an age of 14 years, but in captivity, they can live up to 26 years.
Like all equids, onagers are herbivorous mammals. They eat grasses, herbs, leaves, fruits, and saline vegetation when available, but browse on shrubs and trees in drier habitats. They have also been seen feeding on seed pods such as Prosopis and breaking up woody vegetation with their hooves to get at more succulent herbs growing at the base of woody plants.
During the winter, onagers also eat snow as a substitute for water. When natural water sources are unavailable, the onager digs holes in dry riverbeds to reach subsurface water. The water holes dug by the onagers are often subsequently visited by domestic livestock, as well as other wild animals. Water is also found in the plants on which the onagers feed.
During spring and summer in Mongolia, the succulent plants of the Zygophyllaceae form an important component of the diet of the Mongolian wild ass.
The onager is preyed upon by predators such as Persian leopards and striped hyenas. A few cases of onager deaths due to predation by leopards have been recorded in Iran. Though leopards do not usually feed on equids as in Africa, this may be because Persian leopards are larger and strong enough to prey on Asiatic wild asses.[14][15]
In the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, Asiatic lions and tigers were the main predators of onagers. They were also formerly preyed upon by dholes, Asiatic cheetahs, and possibly bears, though they may have mostly preyed only on onager foals. In India, mugger crocodiles can be great threats to onagers during migratory river crossings.
Currently, the main predator for onagers are gray wolves. However, like most equids, they are known to have antipredator behaviour. Groups of stallions cooperate and try to chase off predators. If threatened, onagers defend themselves and violently kick at the incoming predator.
The greatest threat facing the onager is poaching for meat and hides, and in some areas for use in traditional medicine. It is one of the highest threats for the Mongolian wild ass. The extreme isolation of many subpopulations also threatens the species, as genetic problems can result from inbreeding. Overgrazing by livestock reduces food availability, and herders also reduce the availability of water at springs. The cutting down of nutritious shrubs and bushes exacerbates the problem. Furthermore, a series of drought years could have devastating effects on this beleaguered species.
Habitat loss and fragmentation are also major threats to the onager, a particular concern in Mongolia as a result of the increasingly dense network of roads, railway lines, and fences required to support mining activities.
The Asiatic wild ass is also vulnerable to diseases. A disease known as the "South African horse sickness" caused a major decline to the Indian wild ass population in the 1960s. However, the subspecies is no longer under threat to such disease and is continuously increasing in number.
Various breeding programs have been started for the onager subspecies in captivity and in the wild, which increases their numbers to save the endangered species. The species is legally protected in many of the countries in which it occurs. The priority for future conservation measures is to ensure the protection of this species in particularly vulnerable parts of its range, to encourage the involvement of local people in the conservation of the onager, and to conduct further research into the behavior, ecology, and taxonomy of the species.
Two onager subspecies, the Persian onager and the Turkmenian kulan are being reintroduced to their former ranges, including in other regions the Syrian wild ass used to occur in the Middle East. The two subspecies have been reintroduced to the wild of Israel since 1982, and had been breeding hybrids there,[16] whilst the Persian onager alone has been reintroduced to Jordan and the deserts of Saudi Arabia.
Onagers are notoriously difficult to tame. Equids were used in ancient Sumer to pull wagons c. 2600 BC, and then chariots on the Standard of Ur, c. 2550 BC. Clutton-Brock (1992) suggests that these were donkeys rather than onagers on the basis of a "shoulder stripe".[17] However, close examination of the animals (equids, sheep and cattle) on both sides of the piece indicate that what appears to be a stripe may well be a harness, a trapping, or a joint in the inlay.[18][19] Genetic testing of skeletons from that era shows that they were kungas, a cross between an onager and a donkey.
In the Hebrew Bible there is a reference to the onager in Job 39:5:
Who freed the wild donkey, loosed the ropes of the onager?
— Job 39:5[20]
In La Peau de Chagrin by Honoré de Balzac, the onager is identified as the animal from which comes the ass' skin or shagreen of the title.
A short poem by Ogden Nash also features the onager:
Have you ever harked to the jackass wild, which scientists call the onager?
It sounds like the laugh of an idiot child, or a hepcat on a harmonager.
But do not laugh at the jackass wild, for there is method in his he-haw:
for with maidenly blush, and accent mild, the jenny-ass answers "She-haw".
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{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) The onager (/ˈɒnədʒər/; Equus hemionus /ˈɛkwəs hɪˈmaɪənəs/), also known as hemione or Asiatic wild ass, is a species of the family Equidae native to Asia. A member of the subgenus Asinus, the onager was described and given its binomial name by German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in 1775. Five subspecies have been recognized, one of which is extinct.
The Asiatic wild ass is larger than the African wild ass at about 290 kg (640 lb) and 2.1 m (6.9 ft) (head-body length). They are reddish-brown or yellowish-brown in color and have broad dorsal stripe on the middle of the back. Unlike most horses and donkeys, onagers have never been domesticated. They are among the fastest mammals, as they can run as fast as 64 km/h (40 mph) to 70 km/h (43 mph). The onager is closely related to the African wild ass, as they both shared the same ancestor. The kiang, formerly considered a subspecies of Equus hemionus, diverged from the Asiatic wild ass and has been acknowledged as a distinct species.
The onager formerly had a wider range from southwest and central to northern Asian countries, such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Afghanistan, Russia, and Siberia; the prehistoric European wild ass subspecies ranged through Europe until the Bronze age. During early 20th century, the species lost most of its ranges in the Middle East and Eastern Asia. Today, onagers live in deserts and other arid regions of Iran, Pakistan, India, and Mongolia, including in Central Asian hot and cold deserts of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and China.
Other than deserts, it lives in grasslands, plains, steppes, and savannahs. Like many other large grazing animals, the onager's range has contracted greatly under the pressures of poaching and habitat loss. Previously listed as Endangered, the onager has been classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2015. Of the five subspecies, one is extinct, two are endangered, and two are near threatened; its status in China is not well known. Persian onagers are currently being reintroduced in the Middle East as replacements for the extinct Syrian wild ass in the Arabian Peninsula, Israel and Jordan.
