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Equus kiangkiang

By Hui-Yu Wang

Ge­o­graphic Range

Equus kiang are wildly dis­trib­uted in Tibet, Ts­ing­hai and Szech­wan re­gions of China, Nepal, and India. Three sub­species have been as­signed to pop­u­la­tions in dif­fer­ent ranges, but this is still con­tro­ver­sial.

Habi­tat

E. kiang live in alpine grass lands of el­e­va­tion range from 4000 m to 7000 m. They pre­fer dry open areas in­clud­ing desert, semi­desert, or steppe. An­nual pre­cip­i­ta­tion is from 60 mm to 70 mm.

  • Range elevation
    4000 to 7000 m
    13123.36 to 22965.88 ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Equus kiang is the largest wild ass species in the world. Kiang lengths are about 210 cm, shoul­der heights are about 140 cm, tail lengths are 50 cm, and body weights are 250 to 440 kg. Their pelage changes with sea­son. They are usu­ally red­dish in sum­mer and dark brown in win­ter. In sum­mer the coat is shorter and thin­ner, while the win­ter coat is long and thick. Equus kiang look more like horses than asses be­cause of their short ears and large tail tufts. They are very sim­i­lar to Equus hemionus ge­net­i­cally and phys­i­cally. The mi­to­chon­dr­ial DNA di­ver­gence be­tween the 2 species is only 1%, and the di­ver­gence prob­a­bly arose less than 500,000 years ago. Their run­ning speed is slightly slower than E. hemionus.

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • sexes alike
  • Range mass
    250 to 440 kg
    550.66 to 969.16 lb
  • Average length
    210 cm
    82.68 in

Re­pro­duc­tion

Male E. kiang mob fe­males and guard them from rival males. Sin­gle males fol­low the fe­male herds and fight for breed­ing rights.

The breed­ing sea­son is from Au­gust to Sep­tem­ber. Ges­ta­tion takes al­most a year, and thus young are usu­ally born in late July to Au­gust when food is plen­ti­ful. One young is born at each birth. The baby can walk a few hours after birth. Weaing takes place after about a year, and it takes an­other year to reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity.

  • Breeding season
    August-September
  • Average number of offspring
    1
  • Average gestation period
    12 months
  • Average gestation period
    299 days
    AnAge
  • Average weaning age
    12 months
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    2 years
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    2 years

Lifes­pan/Longevity

About 20 years.

  • Average lifespan
    Status: captivity
    30.1 years
    AnAge

Be­hav­ior

E. kiang usu­ally form fam­ily groups of 5-400 an­i­mals. The group is led by an old fe­male, and is tightly co­he­sive. The group may travel long dis­tances in search of food.

E. kiang are good swim­mers. Dur­ing sum­mer they are often ob­served bathing in rivers. They are ac­tive noc­tur­nally and they feed pri­mar­ily at night.

They may gain 40-45 kg dur­ing the veg­e­ta­tion growth sea­son in Au­gust to Sep­tem­ber.

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Food Habits

E. kiang feed mainly on grasses and short plants. They es­pe­cially feed on forbs (Stipa spp.), which are widely dis­trib­uted and plen­ti­ful. Their feed­ing areas some­times over­lap with those of do­mes­tic sheep dur­ing sum­mer, but they do not com­plete for food sig­nif­i­cantly.

  • Plant Foods
  • leaves

Pre­da­tion

Only wolves prey on wild asses in na­ture. How­ever, going back to the early 1900s, they have been hunted for meat and skins. Since the hunt­ing started, the ge­o­graphic dis­tri­b­u­tion of E. kiang has been re­duced.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

The wild asses are hunted for meat and for their skins, which are used for mak­ing leather.

  • Positive Impacts
  • food

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Un­de­ter­mined (IUCN, 1996).

Lower risk (IUCN, 2000).

How­ever, habi­tat loss and com­pe­ti­tion for food sources with live­stocks could put them at risk. In some areas, poach­ing pres­sure still ex­ists.

Con­trib­u­tors

Hui-Yu Wang (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor, Bret We­in­stein (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Palearctic

living in the northern part of the Old World. In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa.

World Map

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

colonial

used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.

desert or dunes

in deserts low (less than 30 cm per year) and unpredictable rainfall results in landscapes dominated by plants and animals adapted to aridity. Vegetation is typically sparse, though spectacular blooms may occur following rain. Deserts can be cold or warm and daily temperates typically fluctuate. In dune areas vegetation is also sparse and conditions are dry. This is because sand does not hold water well so little is available to plants. In dunes near seas and oceans this is compounded by the influence of salt in the air and soil. Salt limits the ability of plants to take up water through their roots.

dominance hierarchies

ranking system or pecking order among members of a long-term social group, where dominance status affects access to resources or mates

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

female parental care

parental care is carried out by females

folivore

an animal that mainly eats leaves.

food

A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.

herbivore

An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

mountains

This terrestrial biome includes summits of high mountains, either without vegetation or covered by low, tundra-like vegetation.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nocturnal

active during the night

oriental

found in the oriental region of the world. In other words, India and southeast Asia.

World Map

polygynous

having more than one female as a mate at one time

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

social

associates with others of its species; forms social groups.

tactile

uses touch to communicate

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

tundra

A terrestrial biome with low, shrubby or mat-like vegetation found at extremely high latitudes or elevations, near the limit of plant growth. Soils usually subject to permafrost. Plant diversity is typically low and the growing season is short.

young precocial

young are relatively well-developed when born

Ref­er­ences

2000. "Don­key (Ass)" (On-line). Ac­cessed Nov 19, 2001 at http://​www.​blm.​gov/​nstc/​resourcenotes/​respdf/​RN24.​pdf.

Har­ris, R., D. Miller. 1995. Over­lap in sum­mer habi­tats and diets of Ti­betan plateau un­gu­lates. Mam­malia, 59(2): 197-212.

Har­ris, R., D. Pletscher, C. Log­gers, D. Miller. 1999. Sta­tus and trends of Ti­betan plateau mam­malian fauna, Ye­ni­u­gou, China. Bi­o­log­i­cal Con­ser­va­tion, 87(1): 13-19.

Huff­man, B. 2004. "Kiang, Ti­betan Wild Ass" (On-line). Ac­cessed Au­gust 8, 2006 at http://​www.​ultimateungulate.​com/​Perissodactyla/​Equus_​kiang.​html.

Julka, J., J. Al­fred, H. Mehta, R. Pali­wal. 1999. "Sta­tus sur­vey of Kiang (Ti­betan wild ass) in Ladakh" (On-line). Ac­cessed Nov 19, 2001 at http://​envfor.​nic.​in/​news/​sep99/​kiang.​htm.

Mal­lon, D. 1991. Sta­tus and con­ser­va­tion of large mam­mals in Ladakh. Bi­o­log­i­cal Con­ser­va­tion, 56(1): 101-119.

Moehlman, P. 2000. Con­ser­va­tion is­sues for wild zebra, asses, and horses in Africa and Asia. Re­source Notes, 24: 1-2.

Ryder, O., L. Chem­nick. 1990. Chro­mo­so­mal and mol­cu­lar evo­lu­tion in Asi­atic wild asses. Ge­net­ica, 83(1): 67-72.

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Classification

  • Kingdom Animalia animals
  • Phylum Chordata chordates
  • Subphylum Vertebrata vertebrates
  • Class Mammalia mammals
  • Order Perissodactyla horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs
  • Family Equidae asses, horses, and zebras
  • Genus Equus asses, horses, and zebras
  • Species Equus kiang kiang