348 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



eat its flesh, and they told us they were more numerous across the 

 Eritrean boundary." 

 Antonius (1938, p. 560) writes: 



[The Nubian Wild Ass] until recent times spread over the mountainous 

 semi-deserts of Nubia and the Eastern Sudan from the Nile to the shores 

 of the Red sea. The last specimens of Nubian origin known to European 

 observers were two males shot by Sir Reginald Loder about 1925, near the 

 Gebel Raboba, on the Erythrean frontier, and an old female, living in the 

 Zoological Gardens at Rome for many years, the photograph of which is 

 reproduced by Zammerano in his "Fauna e Caggia." To-day there is a living 

 specimen in the New York Zoological Park, and also a stallion in the Zoo 

 at Rome. The Nubian ass was domesticated by the ancient Egyptians at 

 least in 3500 B. C., and being hunted by the King Rameses III. as is shown 

 at the temple of Medinet Habu it was well known as a wild animal in 

 Egypt until at least 1100 B. C. . : . 



The so-called "Nubian Asses" shown in many Zoos, are by no means pure 

 bred descendants of the true wild stock; therefore it seems nearly certain 

 that the Nubian ass is to-day as thoroughly extinct as his Atlantic cousin. 

 [This remark on extinction is somewhat premature, in view of the statements 

 just quoted from Brocklehurst, Maydon, De Beaux, and Powell-Cotton.] 



All forms of the Wild Ass in Africa enjoy complete protection 

 under the London Convention of 1933. 



Domestication. According to Lydekker (1916, vol. 5, p. 37), the 

 typical subspecies of the African Wild Ass (A. a. asinus) is repre- 

 sented by the Domestic Ass of Asia. He also states (1912, p. 217) 

 that the wild animal was first tamed in the Mediterranean countries. 

 This ancestral wild animal was doubtless distinguishable from the 

 present domesticated animal, but whether it was identical with any 

 of the wild forms now recognized (africanus, atlanticus, or somali- 

 ensis), it is impossible to say. Werth (1930, p. 351) suggests Abys- 

 sinia as the place of first domestication. If, however, the wild ances- 

 tor inhabited the eastern Mediterranean region, where no wild repre- 

 sentative of Asinus asinus now exists, it may have differed from any 

 of the currently recognized forms. In the account of Asinus hemionus 

 hemippus (p. 368) I have suggested the possible occurrence of some 

 wild form of Asinus asinus in the Palestine region within compara- 

 tively recent times. 



While space does not suffice to discuss the subject of domestication 

 at any length, the following quotation from Peake (1933, pp. 98-99) 

 is apropos here: 



The ass was used at a very early date, both in Egypt and in Mesopotamia, 

 but it is impossible to say at present to which region to ascribe the priority. 

 Towards the close of the predynastic period in Egypt, just before 3400 B. C., 

 the Libyan tribes, who dwelt in the desert to the west of the Nile Delta, 

 possessed large herds of asses, and this indicates that this animal had been 

 known to and possessed by them for a long time. At Ur, in Mesopotamia, 

 asses were used by those kings and queens who were buried in the famous 

 death-pits, accompanied by their slain retainers, and these must be relegated 



