|
Genus: Equus, Species: kiang
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Subspecies: kiang,
Western Kiang. Tibet, Ladakh, Southwestern Xinjiang
Subspecies: holdereri,
Eastern Kiang. Qinghia, Southeastern Xinjiang
Subspecies: polyodon,
Southern Kiang. Southern Tibet and Nepalese border
Description
The Tibetan (or kiang) wild asses (Equus kiang) are the largest of the wild asses. It is also referred to as the gorkhar and khyang.
The legs, under parts, end of the muzzle, and the inside of the ears are all white. A broad, dark chocolate-colored dorsal stripe extends from the mane to the end of the tail, which ends in a tuft of blackish brown hairs.
The kiang has an average height at the withers of 13.3 hands or 55 inches. They range from 52 to 56 inches high at the withers, with a body 72 to 84 inches long, and a tail of 13 to 18 inches. Kiangs have only slight sexual dimorphism, with the males weighing from 770 to 880 pounds, while females weigh 550 to 660 pounds.
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 color, darker brown in winter and a sleek reddish brown in late summer, when the animal moults its woolly fur. The summer coat is half and inch long and the winter coat is double that length.
Range
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, plains of the Tibetan plateau and northern Nepal along the Tibetan border.
| 
