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What is a Kiang?

The Kiang is known as Equus Kiang, and is a part of the Equus genus, and they are native to the Tibetan Plateau, where they live at 4-7,000 meters elevation. They are the largest of all the wild asses and at one point were thought to be a subspecies of the Onager - but with recent molecular and genetic study have found to be their own species.  It has a convex nose, a large head, an upright mane, and it is white with brown.  There are three subspecies of the Kiang and are distributed in different areas, and have geographically distinct adaptations.  The eastern Kiang is the largest subspecies, the southern Kiang is the smallest, and the eastern are in the middle with a darker coat.  The entire species is considered to be un-threatened by man thus far, as its conservation status is “Least Concern” likely to the habitats it lives in and has adapted to - where human involvement is sparse and contact is intermittent due to the elevations they live at.

They live in herds and never scatter themselves, and are usually led by an old mare.  They are a synchronized species as they seem to do everything at the exact same time and on time, walking single file, eating and drinking, along with turning at the same time.  They do not groom each other and males usually are a solitary roamer, following packs only in mating seasons.  An unusual quality about the Kiang is that they are very good at swimming.  There inly predator is the wolf, and they usually are in maternal herds of five to four hundred, males are mostly solitary unless they band together in winter in what are called bachelor herds, and it is unusual to see more than ten in one of these herds.

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What is an Onager?

Onagers are a mammal belonging to the Equus genus, and the Asinus subgenus.  They are known by the scientific name Equus Hemionus, and are found in Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, Israel, and Tibet.  They belong to the horse family and are sometimes called the Asian Wild Ass.  The Onager is a grazing animal and its range has sharply declined through the direct and indirect actions of homosapien sapiens (us), with less wildlife and less forage to naturally find.  There are size subspecies of Onager, and one is now extinct. The Onager is larger than the donkey and are slightly more horse-like in appearance.  They have a history of domestication for kings and chariot pulling in Sumer dating back to 2600 BC, and 2000 BC respectively.  The subspecies of the Onager that are still living are the Mongolian Wild Ass, the Gobi Kulan (or Dziggetai), the Turkmenian Kulan, the Persian Onager, and the Indian Wild Ass (or Khur).  The extinct species is the Syrian Wild Ass, the very last one died in 1928 in a zoo.

The Mongolian subspecies of the Onager has been recently listed as Vulnerable since the 1990s saw a massive decline in their numbers.  The population is failing because of direct human actions, like poaching and competition from grazing livestock, since 1953 the Mongolian Wild Ass has been fully protected in Mongolia, and it is listed in the CITES in appendix I and II.  Even with full protection poaching for meat is on the rise as it is a cheap alternative to domesticated animal meat.  One of the other Onagers is the Indian Wild Ass, or khur, and it is vanishing in parts of India. At one point the population may have dipped below one thousand, but recent conservation efforts have helped bring them back from being close to the brink.

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Donkeys Definition

A donkey is a mammal in the genus Equus and subgenus asinus.  Donkeys are usually a meter to a meter and a half tall in the wild, while domesticated they can reach that height as well.  They are adapted and evolved to living in harsh desert weather conditions and their fur is not waterproof.  In the wild they do not live in herds, and are adept at hearing, eyesight, and sure footed walking.  The modern Donkey is descended from the Nubian donkey subspecies of the African Wild Ass, and it was domesticated around 4000 BCE. The donkey was an important animal for those who dwelled in Egypt and Nubia, as they easily carried 20-30% their own body wight and could be used for farming and as dairy animals.  By the 1800s BCE the donkey had reached the middle east and the city Damascus was nicknamed the “City of Asses” due to their prevalence.

By more modern times (1400s) the Donkey had reached the New World - Christopher Columbus brought four males and two females, who then begot the mules used by Spanish conquistadors in their conquests.  The donkey, however, did not become popular until the gold rush if the 1840’s and then the mining into mountains.  Once this happened, donkeys became the primary locomotion inside mines and hauled gold around for prospectors - along with their equipment.  Often times they did not need ropes because they were loyal to humans, having been domesticated nearly six thousand years earlier.  In the 20th century they became pets in the U.S. while still maintaining their work status in much of the world that was not yet industrialized - and in the U.S. miniature donkeys were bred and brought in the 1920s, cementing their status as a pet, and more recently a guard animal.   Due to human domestication and interaction there are 44 million donkeys today all over the world, with China holding 11 million, followed by Ethiopia and Mexico.

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Hinny Definition

A hinny is the opposite of a mule, where the mother (dam) is a donkey and the father (sire) is a horse.  It takes a long times and a lot of patience to even get one due to the donkey’s stubbornness to mate with a horse.  Many times they are created through artificial impregnation or other techniques. Hinnies are similar to mules in that they are pretty much healthier and requires less food due to the donkey’s adapted body and efficency in food consumption.  Hinnies are also smarter than horses and more cooperative than donkeys, much like mules.   However, hinnies are on average slightly smaller than mules and can only be as large as the dam (mother) which is a donkey, whereas a mule can be as big as a horse in some cases (since the mother of a mule is a horse).  They heads of hinnies often resemble the heads of horses more than mules do, and they have shorter ears.  They come in horse colors, and the sire often gives his coat to the hinny, thus making them more varied in coloration and variance.

Hinnies are difficult to produce because of the chromosomal difference from the mother is 62 and the father is 64 - which makes it more difficult to produce.  It is easier with a mule because the male father has 62 while the mother has 64, and it is usually more viable.  There have been no recorded cases of any fertile male hinnies, however there has been one single documented case of a fertile female hinny. Another reason that hinnies are so rare to find and conversely hard to produce is that the stallion male (the sire) is picky, and will often times not wish to mate with a donkey, and the donkey mare (the dam) is just as picky, if not more so, compounding the problem.

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Mules Definition

A mule is, in its usual meaning, an offspring from a male donkey and a female horse, while the reverse of such is called a hinny. The mule is easier to breed and larger in size than the hinny, and usually the chromosomal match up is better when it is a male donkey and female horse - producing a unique offspring.  They are almost always sterile, however there have been a few rare cases where mules and hinnies have been able to produce offspring of one type or another.  Donkeys have a total of 62 chromosomes, and horses have 64 - the offspring have 63 and cannot divide evenly, which renders them sterile in almost all cases.   The mule has long ears, short thick heads, thin limbs, small hooves, and a short mane; it also does not sound like a donkey, nor does it sound like a horse.  There are many coats, depending on the sire and the dam.

In behavior the mule has the same tendencies as the donkey with its patience, endurance, and agility in being sure footed, making it excellent in hard or more unstable terrain - however it lacks the fear and weaknesses of the donkey, rather it has more strength and is bolder.  Thier hooves are stronger, and they go lame much less often, and are resistant to disease in comparison with the horse.  They also don’t like dogs quite as much as horses do, and are capable of defending themselves or their rider against a number of predators - with recorded numerous kills against mountain lions.  They also can fire off a kick in any direction they wish to with great accuracy, and can be lethal.  There have been only sixty documented cases of fertile mules in four hundred years, and one cloned mule.

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