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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