Question

Present day population of Asiatic Wild Ass is below
A. 150
B. 1000
C. 5000
D. 500

Answer 1

Hint: The Asiatic wild ass is a species belonging to the family Equidae which is native to Asia. It is commonly known as Onager. Five subspecies have been recognized, one of which is extinct.

Complete Answer:
- The Asiatic wild ass is about 290 kg and 2.1 m (6.9 ft). They are reddish-brown or yellowish-brown in color and have broad dorsal stripes on the middle of the back. These species have never been domesticated. They are also among the fastest mammals, they can run as fast as 64 km/h to 70 km/h.
- The onager formerly had a wider range from southwest and central to northern Asian countries, the prehistoric European wild ass subspecies ranged through Europe until the Bronze age. Many of its species were lost and today, onagers live in deserts and other arid regions of Iran, Pakistan, India, and Mongolia, including in Central Asian hot and cold deserts of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and China.
- Other than deserts, it lives in grasslands, plains, steppes, and savannahs. They are herbivorous animals and during winters, they also eat snow as a substitute for water. The greatest threat for them is poaching for meat and hides, and sometimes for medicines.
- Other threats include, drought, habitat loss and fragmentation, diseases, predators, inbreeding resulting in genetic problems etc. To conserve them, breeding programs have been started for the wild as well as captive onagers.
- Previously listed as Endangered, onagers have been classified as ‘near threatened’ by IUCN in 2015. Of the five subspecies, one is extinct, two are endangered, and two are near threatened. Present day population of Asiatic Wild Ass is below 1000.

Hence, the correct option is B ‘1000’.

Note: Currently, the biggest predator for onagers are gray wolves. However they are also known to have antipredator protection. Groups of stallions cooperate and try to chase off predators. If threatened, they defend themselves and violently kick at the incoming predator.