| Onager | |
|---|---|
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| A Persian onager (Equus hemionus onager) at Rostov-on-Don Zoo, Russia | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Equidae |
| Genus: | Equus |
| Subgenus: | Asinus |
| Species: | E. hemionus[1]
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| Binomial name | |
| Equus hemionus[1] Pallas, 1775
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| Subspecies | |
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| Onager range | |
| Synonyms | |
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Equus onager (Boddaert, 1785) | |
The onager (/ˈɒnədʒər/)(Equus hemionus), 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. Six subspecies have been recognized, two of which are extinct.
The onager weighs about 200–260 kg (440–570 lb) and reaches about 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. The onager has never been domesticated. It is among the fastest mammals, as they can run as fast as 64–70 km/h (40–43 mph).
The onager formerly had a wider range from southwest and central to northern Asia including the Levant region, Arabian Peninsula, Afghanistan 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 range in the Middle East and Eastern Asia. Today, onagers live in deserts and other arid regions of Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Mongolia 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. 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.
- ^ Grubb, P. (2005). "Order Perissodactyla". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 632. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Kaczensky, P.; Lkhagvasuren, B.; Pereladova, O.; Hemami, M. & Bouskila, A. (2020). "Equus hemionus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T7951A166520460. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T7951A166520460.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.