When natural water sources are unavailable, the Asiatic wild ass digs holes in dry riverbeds to access subsurface water. [9], 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). https://horses.fandom.com/wiki/Onager?oldid=4061. 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. 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 Gobi Desert is the onager's main stronghold. There is an endangered breed of a wild donkey called the “Onager”, or the “wild Asian ass” that is famously almost impossible to tame. Clutton-Brock (1992) suggests that these were donkeys rather than onagers on the basis of a "shoulder stripe". Equids were used in ancient Sumer to pull wagons circa 2600 BC, and then chariots on the Standard of Ur, circa 2550 BC. Water is also found in the plants on which the onagers feed. They are generally reddish-brown in color during the summer, becoming yellowish-brown or grayish-brown in the winter. The Persian onager was formerly known as Equus onager, as it was thought to be a distinct species. Onagers are notoriously untamable. Partially, onagers also form large group associations of up from 450 to 1,200 individuals, but this usually only takes place on locations with food or water sources. This is a space to post articles, photos and information about these fantastic animals. The onager have been regionally extinct in Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and southern regions of Siberia. Onagers are the most horse-like of wild asses. The Asiatic wild ass is larger than African wild ass at about 290 kg (640 lb) and 2.1 m (6.9 ft) (head-body length). The foal can stand and starts to nurse within 15 to 20 minutes. During the rearing foals and dam remain closely, other animals, also own older juveniles are displaced by the dam. They are generally reddish-brown in color during the summer, becoming yellowish-brown in the winter months. The oldest divergence of Equus was the onager followed by the zebras and onwards. BECOME a Roman for the day and build and fire your own catapult - known in the legion as an onager - at Canterbury's Roman Museum. Like most equids, onagers are social animals. The specific name is Ancient Greek ἡμίονος (hēmíonos), from ἡμι- (hēmi-), half, and ὄνος (ónos), donkey; thus, half-donkey or mule. A few cases of onager deaths due to predation by leopards were recorded in Iran. The specific name is Ancient Greek ἡμίονος (hēmíonos), from ἡμι- (hēmi-), half, and ὄνος (ónos), donkey; thus, half-donkey or mule. The onager is a member of the Subgenus Asinus, belonging to the genus Equus and is classified under the family Equidae. Groups of stallions cooperate and try to chase off predators. Unlike most horses and donkeys, onagers have never been domesticated. The onager is preyed upon by apex predators such as Persian leopard and striped hyenas. They eat grasses, herbs, leaves, fruits, and saline vegetation when available, but browse on shrubs and trees in drier habitats. 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 National Miniature Donkey Association. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, "the taxonomic relationships and distributions of Asiatic wild assess should be clarified." [citation needed]. 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. A disease known as the "South African horse sickness" caused a major decline to the Indian wild ass population in the 1960s. Mares with foals sometimes find themselves also to small groups, the areas of up to 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi) which overlap with those of the other groups and dominant stallions. 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. Onagers are notoriously untamable. Onagers are larger than donkeys at about 200 kg (440 lb) to 290 kg (640 lb) in size and 2.1 m (6.9 ft) to 2.5 m (8.2 ft) in head-body length. During the winter, onagers also eat snow as a substitute for water. A member of the subgenus Asinus, the onager was described and given its binomial name by German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in 1775. The kiang, formerly considered a subspecies of Equus hemionus, diverged from the Asiatic wild ass and has been acknowledged as a distinct species. Frequently committed paths with feces and marked urine, where often the same marker points are used. The IUCN estimates about 28,000 mature individuals in total remain in the wild.[2]. The two subspecies have been reintroduced to the wild of Israel since 1982, and had been breeding hybrids there, whilst the Persian onager alone has been reintroduced to Jordan and the deserts of Saudi Arabia.