Chester Zoo is celebrating the birth of one of the world’s rarest animals. A Persian onager was born to mother Azita after a year-long gestation.
The onager originates from the semi-desert regions of Iran and is related to the domestic donkey. This onager’s offspring was named Jasper, which means “treasure” in Persian.
Conservationists at the zoo say fewer than 600 wild onagers remain, but the birth of the “long-bodied youngster” could help protect the species from extinction. Mike Jordan, director of animals and plants at Chester Zoo, said the zoo was “thrilled” by Jasper’s birth.
Jordan added that Jasper is “doing great” and mom Azita is “doing a fantastic job of caring for and bonding with her new cub.” “He is full of energy and loves to play around by kicking up sand as he runs around his habitat,” Jordan added.
Wild asses were once abundant in the deserts of Mongolia, China and Iran, but now very few remain. Onagers survive in just two small protected areas in Iran, a Chester Zoo spokesman said. Conservationists say the species has suffered from poaching, overgrazing, drought and diseases transmitted from livestock.
Their numbers have declined by more than 50% in the past two decades. The species is listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
“With numbers declining so rapidly in the wild, and the species now on the brink of extinction in Iran, it is entirely possible that the onager could become extinct in the wild within our lifetime,” Jordan added. (BBC/Z-3)
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