Asses

All 2 species of asses on WAnimals

Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Conservation status

Where they live

Recorded in 16 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

Did you know…?

• Its wild ancestor, the African wild ass, is critically endangered today: probably fewer than two hundred animals are left in the Horn of Africa.

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• Crossed with a mare it produces the mule, and a jenny crossed with a stallion produces the hinny; both are almost always sterile because they have an odd number of chromosomes.

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• It was domesticated in eastern Africa more than 7,000 years ago, according to the analysis of ancient and modern genomes published in 2022, and from there the African and Eurasian lineages split and diverged.

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• It is the wild ancestor of every domestic donkey in the world.

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• Barely a few hundred pure animals remain in the wild, in Eritrea and Ethiopia.

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• Males defend territories of up to 23 km², marked with dung piles.

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Ecosystems