Onager
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Photo] Onager (Equus hemionus). Date 4 October 2003. Photo from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Tannin

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

The Onager (Equus hemionus) is a large mammal belonging to the horse family and native to the deserts of Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, Israel, and Tibet. It is sometimes known as the half ass or the Asian Wild Ass.

Like many other large grazing animals, its range has contracted greatly under the pressures of hunting and habitat loss, and of the six subspecies, one is extinct and two endangered. 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 that it is a distinct species.

Onagers are a little larger than donkeys at about 290 kg and 2.1 metres (head-body length), and are a little more horse-like. They are short-legged compared to horses, and their coloring varies depending on the season. They are generally reddish-brown in color during the summer, becoming yellowish-brown in the winter months. They have a black stripe bordered in white that extends down the middle of the back. They are notoriously untameable. Equids were used in ancient Sumer to pull wagons circa 2600 BC, and then chariots on the Standard of Ur, circa 2000 BC. These have been suggested to represent Onagers, but are now thought to have been domestic asses. (Clutton-Brock)

Subspecies

* Mongolian Wild Ass, Equus hemionus hemionus
* Syrian Wild Ass, Equus hemionus hemippus (extinct)
* Gobi Kulan or Dziggetai , Equus hemionus luteus
* Turkmenian Kulan, Equus hemionus kulan
* Persian Onager, Equus hemionus onager
* Indian Wild Ass or Khur, Equus hemionus khur

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onager

The text in this page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article shown in above URL. It is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.