Ostrava, North Moravia, July 9 (CTK) – A young onager, an endangered Asiatic wild ass, has been born in the Ostrava zoo, its spokeswoman Sarka Novakova told CTK Thursday, adding that the rare offspring is a female.
It is the first young to be born in “Persia,” a newly established enclosure with several animal species.
The onager group in it is comprised of a male and four females.
Novakova said the onager is the most endangered of the five Asian ass subspecies. Its wild population is estimated at a mere 500, and the world zoos keep some 80 of them.
Out of the Czech zoos, the onager can be seen in Ostrava only.
The onager’s natural habitats are lowlands, deserts and semi-deserts. Originally, it lived in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, but it survives only in Iran now, Novakova said.
Outside nature reserves, people often tend to eliminate onagers in order to save the pastures for cattle.
