Onager: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Mountains and Deserts · day 7 of 7

Five facts

1. This wild ass of Asia is one of the fastest mammals around, able to gallop at 64 to 70 km/h.
2. When rivers and springs run dry, the onager digs holes in the dry riverbed to reach water hidden underground.
3. It uses its hooves to smash woody shrubs and get at the juicy herbs growing at their base.
4. Near food or water, onagers sometimes gather in crowds of 450 to 1,200, but these big groups split up again within a day.
5. In ancient Mesopotamia, a prized animal called the kunga, worth up to six times a donkey, was a cross between an onager and a donkey.

The quiz

1. How fast can an onager run?

• About 15 km/h
• 64 to 70 km/h (correct)
• About 25 km/h
• About 150 km/h

It is among the fastest mammals, running 64 to 70 km/h.

2. What does an onager do when it can't find water?

• It licks dew off rocks
• It drinks from the sea
• It digs holes in dry riverbeds (correct)
• It sleeps until the rain comes

It digs into dry riverbeds to reach water below the surface.

3. How does the onager reach juicy herbs hidden in woody shrubs?

• It breaks the shrubs up with its hooves (correct)
• It pulls them out with its tail
• It waits for goats to clear them
• It crawls underneath on its belly

It smashes woody plants with its hooves to get at herbs at their base.

4. How long do the huge onager gatherings usually last?

• A whole year
• About a month
• All summer
• Less than a day (correct)

These groups of hundreds break up again within a day.

5. What was the kunga of ancient Mesopotamia?

• A cross between an onager and a donkey (correct)
• A wild camel
• A type of zebra
• A small desert deer

A genetic study showed the kunga was an onager and donkey cross.

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