Onagers

Class: Animals with Milk Glands

Subclass: True Mammals

Order: Odd=toed Mammals

Family: Equidae

The name Onager is an ancient Greek word for "ass", which

possibly dates back to the Sumerians' word "ansu". As you can see they

had a sense of humor back then. It is possible these words are also related to "agri", which

gives us our farm words such as "agriculture" and "acre", and would tend to show that ass was the earliest domesticated farm animal.

Location: Mongolia,northern Iran, Tibet, India, and Pakistan.

Habitat: Terrestrial. Steppe and desert.

Description: The onagers color is pale, especially on the flanks, the face, and the underside. The coat is dense in winter, and the mane is often incomplete and bristly. It has short legs and small feet, and the tail is short with a tuft of very long hairs at the tip. The onager grows to about six and one half feet from stem to stern, not counting the tail, and standss about four and one half feet at the soldiers. It can weigh over 500 pounds.

Behavior: Onagers live in groups of varying sizes, which are led by a male or female. The onager is always alert for possible enemies, including both wolves and humans. Its primary defense is its speed and powerful kicks. It usually feeds on grass, but can also survive on straw and other plants of little nutrive value. It can go for long perods without drinking water, which ability has enabled the onager to survive in the deserts, where its only other competitor is the gazelle.

Reprodction: After 11 months gestation, a single foal is born, which nurses for 9 to 12 months.

Note: The onager has been domesticated and used for heavy labor since earliest times.