ORDER PERISSODACTYLA : ODD-TOED UNGULATES 



365 



to be used occasionally in its native land for agricultural work. 

 (I. Geoffroy, 1849, p. 35.) 



"The ghorkhur is found sparingly in Cutch, Guzrat, Jeysalmeer 

 and Bikaneer, not being found further south, it is said, than Deesa, 

 or east of 75 east longitude. It also occurs in Sindh, and more 

 abundantly west of the Indus river, in Beluchistan .... It appears 

 that the Bikaneer herd consists at most of about 150 individuals 

 . . . . " A writer in the Indian Sporting Review is quoted on the 



FIG. 38. Indian Wild Ass (Asinus hemionus khur) 



animal's occurrence in the desert country west of the Indus, above 

 Mithunkote : "The foaling season is in June, July, and August, 

 when the Beluchis ride down and catch numbers of foals, finding 

 a ready sale in the cantonments for them, as they are taken down on 

 speculation to Hindustan. They also shoot great numbers of full- 

 grown ones for food, the ground in places in the desert being very 

 favourable for stalking." The same method of capturing foals is 

 practiced in Bikaneer. (Jerdon, 1874, p. 238.) 



"Wild asses are renowned for speed, but in the Rann of Cutch 

 adults have been run down by men on horseback and speared. I 

 believe, however, the animals run down were mares in foal." (Blan- 

 ford, 1891, p. 471.) 



"I told his Highness of Bikaner in London last autumn that I 

 wished to intercede with him 'on behalf of an oppressed minority 



