Turkmenian kulan
| Turkmenian kulan | |
|---|---|
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| A Turkmenian kulan at Wildpark Pforzheim. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Equidae |
| Genus: | Equus |
| Species: | E. hemionus |
| Subspecies: | E. h. kulan |
| Trinomial name | |
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Equus hemionus kulan Groves and Mazák, 1967 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Equus hemionus finschi |
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Equus hemionus finschi
(Matschie, 1911)
The Turkmenian kulan (Equus hemionus kulan), also called Transcaspian wild ass,Turkmenistani onager or simply the kulan, is a subspecies of onager (Asiatic wild ass) native to Central Asia. It was declared Endangered in 2016.
The species's population had recently been in decline in the country while it slowly increases in reintroduction sites. The Turkmenian kulan has been reintroduced to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine, where the onagers formerly existed, also in Israel, where the subspecies are making hybrids with Persian onagers in the wild.
Previously in 2005, the population was estimated at 1,295-1,345 in Turkmenistan. No other data existed on the condition of the Turkmenistan populations, but hope remained that small groups of animals still resided in inaccessible areas around Badkhyz, and were thriving in the West Kopetdagh (Sumbar-Chandyr Valley) and Ustyurt Plateau around Lake Sarakamish. However, certain fragmented populations of Transcaspian wild ass are currently on the rise to even more than 2,000 individuals in the wild. It is also estimated that over 6,000 kulans live in Central Asia.
The Turkmenian kulan is one of the largest subspecies of the onagers. It is 200–250 cm long, 100–140 cm tall at the shoulder, and it weighs 200–240 kg. Male onagers are larger than the females.
The Transcaspian wild ass is characterized by a pale brown coat, a dark stripe down the spine and white patches on the sides, back and belly. It also has shaggy black mane and a tuft at the tail end. During the summer, the Turkmenian kulan's coat is leaner and brown, then it turns into thick grayish-brown winter coat during the cold season.
The Turkmenian kulan lives in Central Asian deltas, hot and cold deserts or semi-deserts, steppes, arid grasslands and shrublands.
The Turkmen specimen used to be the most widespread of the onagers, ranging from northernmost Iran and northern Afghanistan, the Transcaspian Oblast and western China to southern Siberia. It used to live in Saryesik-Atyrau Desert of Kazakhstan. However, it has gone extinct from that location.
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Wikipedia