Game Animals of India, etc. 



young are almost certainly born during the summer. 

 Both the wiry grass ot Ladak and various dwarf 

 scrubby plants serve as the chief food of the kiang. 



THE GHOR-KHAR, OR BALUCHI 

 WILD ASS 



{Equus onager indicus) 



Native Names. — Ghor-khar^ Persian and Hindustani ; 

 Ghur and Ghurdu^ Baluchi 



The ghor-khar, or wild ass of Baluchistan and the 

 deserts of Western India, is a local race of the Persian 

 onager {Equus onager). 



The range of the species (inclusive of all its local 

 races) embraces the desert districts of Western and (?) 

 W. Central Asia and North- Western India ; while its 

 distinctive features are as follows : — 



Size considerably less than in E. hemionus^ the 

 minimum recorded height being 3 feet 8 inches and 

 the maximum 3 feet 10 inches. Ears apparently 

 much the same as in the latter. Hoofs narrow and 

 ass-like ; the front pair little wider than the hind 

 pair. Profile of face nearly straight or markedly 

 sinuous. Tail-tuft moderate. Dark dorsal stripe 

 very broad, in some cases stopping short of the tail- 

 tuft, and bordered, at least posteriorly, by a band of 

 white or whitish, which joins the white on the 

 buttocks and the back of the thighs. Colour of upper- 

 parts, in the summer coat, usually some shade of pale 

 reddish fawn or sandy (isabelline) ; the light areas, 

 which vary from pure white to whitey-brown, much the 

 same as in E. hemionus^ but extending more on to the 

 buttocks, and thence along the sides of the dorsal 

 stripe, and in some cases occupying more of the body 

 and head. In winter, the lona;- and rough coat more 



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