470 EQUIDiE. 



333. Equus hemionus. Tlie Asiatic Wild Ass. 



Equus hemionus, Pallas, Nov. Com. Acad. IMrop. xix, p. 394, pi. vii 



(1775) ; Sykes, P. Z. S. 1837, p. 91 ; Walker, J. A. S. B. xvii, pt. 2, 



p. 1, pi. i ; Thomason, F. Z. S. 1848, p. 62 ; £li/th, J. A. S. B. xxvi, 



p. 239, note, xxviii, p. 229; Strachey, J. A. S. B. xxix, p. 136; 



Blytk, Cat. p. 136 ; Georye, Ann. Sc. Nat. xii, p. 23 (1869) ; W. 



Blanf. Eastern Persia, ii, p. 84 ; Aitchison, Tr. L. S. (2) v, p. 61 ; 



W. Sclater, Cat. p. 198. 

 Equus kiang, Moorcroft, Travels, i, p. 312 (1811); Hay, P. Z. S. 



1859, p. 353, pi. Ixxiii. 

 Asinus equioides, Ilodyson, J. A. S. B. xi, p. 287 (1842). 

 Asinus polyodon, Hodyson, Calc. Jour. N. H. vii, p. 469, pi. vi (1847) ; 



viii, p. 98. 

 Asinus onager and A. liemionus, Gray, Cat. Ung. Fare. B. M. 



pp. 269, 272 (1852). 

 Equus onager, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxviii, p. 229 ; id. Cat. p. 135 ; 



Jerdon, Main. p. 236. 

 Equus hemippus, Is. Geufr.St.H. Compt. Bend, xli, p. 1214 (1855). 

 Asinus indicus, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 163. 

 Ghor-khar, P. & H. ; Ghur, Ghurdn, Baluch ; Kiang, Tibetan. 



Ears rather large. Tail covered with short hair near the base, 

 growing gradually longer to the end. Mane erect. A naked cal- 

 losity inside each forearm, none on the hind legs. 



Colour. A dark brown stripe, sometimes with a whitish margin, 

 along the back from nape to tail, and continued down part of the 

 latter, the anterior part of the stripe formed by the mane ; re- 

 mainder of upper parts varying from rufescent grey (isabelline) to 

 fawn colour or pale chestnut, lower parts white. Occasionally 

 there is a dark cross stripe on the shoulder, and faint rufous bars 

 are said to occur at times on the limbs. End of tail blackish. Tips 

 of ears and hair close to hoof darker. 



Dimensions. Height at shoulder 3 feet 8 inches to 4 feet. An 

 adult female, that I shot on the Punjab and Sind frontier in 1882, 

 measured : height 3 ft. 10 in., length from nose to rump over 

 curves of back 6 ft. 11 in., length of tail (including hair) 2 ft. 2 in., 

 ear from crown 9. A male skull from Tibet measures in basal 

 length 17"5 inches, zygomatic breadth 7*8. 



Distribidion. Found throughout a large area in Central and 

 Western Asia. Common in Ladak and throughout Tibet, north of 

 the main Himalayan range. A few occur in Baluchistan, especi- 

 ally west of the Indus near Mithankot, on the Punjab frontier. 

 Some are found east of the Indus, hi Bickaneer, Jeysulmere, and 

 on the Rann of Cutch. 



Varieties. There are three forms of the Asiatic wild ass that have 

 been classed as distinct species : — E. hemionus (the Kiang) of Tibet 

 and Mongolia, E. onager v. indicus (the Ghorlchar) of Western India 

 and Baluchistan, and E. Jumipjms of Persia and Syria. The last 

 two by all accounts differ but little, but the Kiang is in general 

 darker and redder than the Ghorlcliar and has a narrower dorsal 

 stripe. In the Ghorhhar this stripe is broader and narrowly 



