Kiang[1] | |
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Conservation status | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Perissodactyla |
Family: | Equidae |
Genus: | Equus |
Subgenus: | Asinus |
Species: | E. kiang |
Binomial name | |
Equus kiang Moorcroft, 1841 |
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Range map |
The kiang (Equus kiang) is the largest of the wild asses. It is native to the Tibetan Plateau, where it inhabits montane and alpine grasslands. Its current range is restricted to Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir,[3][4] plains of the Tibetan plateau and northern Nepal along the Tibetan border.[5] Other common names for this species include Tibetan wild ass, khyang, and gorkhar.[6][7]
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The kiang is closely related to the onager (Equus hemionus), and in some classifications it is considered a subspecies, E. hemionus kiang. Molecular studies, however, indicate that it is a distinct species.[8] An even closer relative, however, may be the extinct Equus conversidens of Pleistocene America,[9] to which it bears a number of striking similarities; however, such a relationship would require kiangs to have crossed Beringia during the Ice Age, for which there is little evidence. Kiang can crossbreed with onagers, horses, donkeys, and Burchell's zebras in captivity, although, like mules, the resulting offspring are sterile. Kiangs have never been domesticated.[10]
The kiang is the largest of the wild asses, with an average shoulder height of 13.3 hands (55 inches, 140 cm). They range from 132 to 142 centimetres (52 to 56 in) high at the shoulder, with a body 182 to 214 centimetres (72 to 84 in) long, and a 32 to 45 centimetres (13 to 18 in) tail. Kiangs have only slight sexual dimorphism, with the males weighing from 350 to 400 kilograms (770 to 880 lb), while females weigh 250 to 300 kilograms (550 to 660 lb). They have a large head, with a blunt muzzle and a convex nose. The mane is upright and relatively short. The coat is a rich chestnut colour, darker brown in winter and a sleek reddish brown in late summer, when the animal molts its woolly fur. The summer coat is 1.5 centimeters long and the winter coat is double that length. The legs, underparts, end of the muzzle, and the inside of the ears are all white. A broad, dark chocolate-coloured dorsal stripe extends from the mane to the end of the tail, which ends in a tuft of blackish brown hairs.[10]
Kiangs are found on the Tibetan plateau, between the Himalayas in the south and the Kunlun Mountains in the north. This restricts them almost entirely to China, but small number are found across the borders in the Ladakh and Sikkim regions of India, and along the northern frontier of Nepal.[11]
Three subspecies of kiang are currently recognised:[11][10][1]
The eastern kiang is the largest subspecies; the southern kiang is the smallest. The western kiang is slightly smaller than the eastern and also has a darker coat. However, there is no genetic information confirming the validity of the three subspecies, which may simply represent a cline, with gradual variation between the three forms.[11][2]
Kiangs inhabit alpine meadows and steppe country between 2,700 and 5,300 metres (8,900 and 17,400 ft) elevation. They prefer relatively flat plateaus, wide valleys, and low hills, dominated by grasses, sedges, and smaller amounts of other low-lying vegetation. This open terrain, in addition to supplying them with suitable forage absent in the more arid regions of central Asia, may make it easier for them to detect, and flee from, predators.[12]
Like all equids, kiangs are herbivores, feeding on grasses and sedges, especially Stipa, but also including other local plants such as bog sedges, Carex, and meadow grass. When there is little grass available, such as during winter or in the more arid margins of their native habitat, they have been observed eating shrubs, herbs, and even Oxytropis roots, dug from the ground. Although they do sometimes drink from waterholes, such sources of water are rare on the Tibetan plateau, and it is likely they obtain most of their water from the plants they eat, or possibly from snow in winter.[10]
The only real predator other than humans is the wolf. Kiangs defend themselves by forming a circle and, with heads down kick out violently. As a result wolves usually attack single animals who have strayed from the group.[13]
Kiangs sometimes gather together in large herds, which may number several hundred individuals. However, these herds are not permanent groupings, but temporary aggregations, consisting either of young males only, or of mothers and their foals. Older males are typically solitary, defending a territory of about 0.5 to 5 square kilometres (0.19 to 1.9 sq mi) from rivals, and dominating any local groups of females. Territorial males sometimes become aggressive towards intruders, kicking and biting at them, but more commonly chase them away after a threat display that involves flattening the ears and braying.[10]
Kiangs mate between late July and late August, when older males tend reproductive females by trotting around them, and then chasing them prior to mating. The length of gestation has been variously reported as anything from seven to twelve months, and results in the birth of a single foal. Females are able to breed again almost immediately after birth, although births every other year are more common. Foals weigh up to 35 kilograms (77 lb) at birth, and are able to walk within a few hours. The age of sexual maturity is unknown, although probably around three or four years, as it is in the closely related onager. Kiang live for up to twenty years in the wild.[10]
Ekai Kawaguchi, a Japanese monk who traveled in Tibet from July, 1900 to June 1902, reported:
Thubten Jigme Norbu, the elder brother of Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama, reporting on his trip from Kumbum Monastery in Amdo to Lhasa in 1950, said that:
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