Husbandry Guidelines for Persion Onager Equus hemionus onager Author: Kristie Klaassens Date of Completion: 9/06/2009 Western Sydney Institute of TAFE, Richmond Course Name and Number: Captive Animals RUV 30204/1068 Lecturer: Graeme Phipps & Brad Walker TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 4 2 TAXONOMY ............................................................................................................. 5 2.1 NOMENCLATURE .................................................................................................. 5 2.2 SUBSPECIES .......................................................................................................... 5 2.3 RECENT SYNONYMS ............................................................................................. 5 2.4 OTHER COMMON NAMES ..................................................................................... 5 3 NATURAL HISTORY .............................................................................................. 6 3.1 MORPHOMETRICS ................................................................................................. 6 3.1.1 Mass And Basic Body Measurements .............................................................. 6 3.1.2 Sexual Dimorphism ......................................................................................... 6 3.2 DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT ............................................................................... 6 3.3 CONSERVATION STATUS ...................................................................................... 7 3.4 LONGEVITY .......................................................................................................... 7 3.4.1 In the Wild ..................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.7 3.4.2 In Captivity .................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.7 4 HOUSING REQUIREMENTS ............. ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.8 4.1 EXHIBIT/ENCLOSURE DESIGN .............................................................................. 8 4.2 GENERAL PRINCIPLES .......................................................................................... 8 4.3 SPATIAL REQUIREMENTS ............................ ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.9 4.4 POSITION OF ENCLOSURES ....................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.10 4.5 WEATHER PROTECTION ............................ ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.10 4.6 TEMPERATURE REQUIREMENTS.......................................................................... 10 4.7 SUBSTRATE ........................................................................................................ 10 5 GENERAL HUSBANDRY ..................................................................................... 11 5.1 HYGIENE AND CLEANING ................................................................................... 11 5.2 RECORD KEEPING............................................................................................... 11 5.3 METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION ............................................................................ 11 5.4 ROUTINE DATA COLLECTION ............................................................................. 12 6 FEEDING REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................... 13 6.1 WILD DIET ......................................................................................................... 13 6.2 CAPTIVE DIET .................................................................................................... 13 6.3 SUPPLEMENTS .................................................................................................... 13 6.4 PRESENTATION OF FOOD .................................................................................... 13 7 HANDLING AND TRANSPORT.......................................................................... 17 7.1 TIMING OF CAPTURE AND HANDLING ................................................................. 17 7.2 CATCHING BAGS ................................................................................................ 17 7.3 CAPTURE TECHNIQUES ....................................................................................... 17 7.4 WEIGHING AND EXAMINATION .......................................................................... 17 7.5 RELEASE ............................................................................................................ 18 7.6 TRANSPORT REQUIREMENTS .............................................................................. 18 7.6.1 Box Design .................................................................................................... 19 7.6.2 Furnishings .................................................................................................... 19 7.6.3 Water and Food ............................................................................................. 20 7.6.4 Animals per Box ............................................................................................ 20 7.6.5 Timing of Transportation .............................................................................. 20 7.6.6 Release from Box ........................................................................................... 20 8 HEALTH REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................ 21 8.1 DAILY HEALTH CHECKS..................................................................................... 21 8.2 DETAILED PHYSICAL EXAMINATION .................................................................. 21 8.3 ROUTINE TREATMENTS ...................................................................................... 21 8.4 KNOWN HEALTH PROBLEMS .............................................................................. 21 8.5 QUARANTINE REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................ 22 9 BEHAVIOUR .......................................................................................................... 23 9.1 SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR ........................................................................................... 23 9.2 REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOUR .............................................................................. 23 9.3 BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS ................................................................................. 25 9.4 BEHAVIOURAL ENRICHMENT ............................................................................. 25 9.5 INTRODUCTIONS AND REMOVALS....................................................................... 25 9.6 SUITABILITY TO CAPTIVITY ................................................................................ 25 10 BREEDING .............................................................................................................. 26 10.1 MATING SYSTEM ................................................................................................ 26 10.2 EASE OF BREEDING ............................................................................................ 26 10.3 REPRODUCTIVE CONDITION ............................................................................... 26 10.4 TECHNIQUES USED TO CONTROL BREEDING ...................................................... 26 10.5 OCCURRENCE OF HYBRIDS ................................................................................. 26 10.6 TIMING OF BREEDING ......................................................................................... 26 10.7 BREEDING AGE .................................................................................................. 26 10.8 FREQUENCY OF BREEDING ................................................................................. 27 11 ARTIFICIAL REARING ....................................................................................... 28 11.1 GENERAL RULES ................................................................................................. 28 11.2 FORMULA TYPES ................................................................................................ 29 11.3 FEEDING ............................................................................................................. 29 11.4 WEANING ........................................................................................................... 30 12 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................... 30 13 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 30 14 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................... 32 14 APPENDIX .............................................................................................................. 33 1.0 Introduction This is a guide to the captive management of the Persian Onager. It includes information on their natural habitat, wild status captive requirements, general health and breeding. The Persian Onager is an Asiatic Ass that Endangered in the wild with around 400 animals left in the wild. As you will read further down they come from Northern Iran and are there are around 155 animals held in zoos around the world. By housing and breeding this species zoos around the world are contributing to conserving this species and protect them from the threat of extinction. 1.1 IUCN Category Persian Onager are listed as Critically endangered on the IUCN Red list