African Wild Ass

True Wild Life | African Wild Ass | The African Wild Ass is a wild member of the horse family, Equidae. This species is believed to be the ancestor of the domestic donkey which is usually placed within the same species. They live in the deserts and other arid areas of northeastern Africa, in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia; it formerly had a wider range north and west into Sudan, Egypt and Libya. About 570 individuals exist in the wild. The African Wild Ass is suited for life in the desert, capable of going on for up to three days without drinking water.

African wild asses are well suited to life in a desert or semidesert environment. They have tough digestive systems, which can break down desert vegetation and extract moisture from food efficiently. They can also go without water for a fairly long time. Their large ears give them an excellent sense of hearing and help in cooling. Because of the sparse vegetation in their environment wild asses live somewhat separated from each other (except for mothers and young), unlike the tightly grouped herds of wild horses. They have very loud voices, which can be heard for over 3 km, which helps them to keep in contact with other asses over the wide spaces of the desert.

The African Wild asses can run swiftly, almost as fast as a horse. However, unlike most hoofed mammals, their tendency is to not flee right away from a potentially dangerous situation, but to investigate first before deciding what to do. When they need to, they can defend themselves with kicks from both their front and hind legs. The African Wild Ass eats plant material, often eating thorn bushes and tougher plants that other animals ignore. They need to have water at least every three days, but they are able to survive on water that is dirty and brackish and can get a lot of their moisture from the plant material that they eat.

Sexual maturity of the female ass usually happens by the time she reaches two. Males can also reproduce at two, but it is so competitive that they usually are forced to wait until they are around four. Males are very territorial and will often hold a huge territory that is about 23 km, and they mark the edges of their territories with dung. Other males are allowed in, but they are kept away from the females as much as possible. Male donkeys will bray when the females are in season, and a dominant male of a territory has first right to breed with any female that comes around. The gestational period usually lasts 11-12 months, and the females in the wild usually give birth only once every two years. The young are weaned at about six months of age, and the animals can live approximately 40 years.

In addition to their struggle with domesticated livestock to secure food and water, the African Wild Ass also became a hunted animal for consumption and medicine. Many dangerous weapons found their way into the homeland of the African Wild Ass due to the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. There is a concern that these weapons will be used more often from now on to hunt more of the African Wild Ass. Currently, there is a protection program in progress to move the African Wild Ass into a protected area of Israel.

Zorse

True Wild Life | Zorse | The zorse is a cross between a zebra stallion and a domestic mare. It is also possible to use a zebra mare and a domestic stallion, but owners of valuable zebra mares don't want to waste a year of their breeding life producing a hybrid when they could be producing a zebra foal instead. The crosses were originally done in England and Africa to try to produce a domestic horselike animal that was resistant to diseases spread by the tse tse fly in Africa. Zebras have natural resistance, where domestic donkeys and horses do not. The experimental crosses were actually becoming popular until early in the 20th century when the auto displaced the horse and mule. At that point cross-breeding was largely abandoned. A revival of interest came in the early 1990s, with just about every breed of domestic horse imaginable being tried.

A zorse generally inherits the striping pattern and some of the conformation of the zebra sire with the size, colouration, and temperament of the domestic mare. Coarse bad tempered pony mares produce coarse bad tempered zonies. Mares of quality, especially Quarter horses and American Paint horses, produce some very beautiful zorses that have a good working attitude. If the mare has a pattern, such as pinto spotting or Appy spots, the zorse often will also. You only see the striping pattern on the pigmented areas, never on the white areas. Breeders avoid using gray mares because the zorse can inherit the graying gene and lose all his stripes in a few years! You can still see the stripes on the skin.

Like mules, zorses are born anatomically normal males or females. They exhibit normal breeding behaviour. But like mules they are sterile. Males should be gelded as early as a few months old to prevent dangerous studdy behaviour. A breeder in KY keeps two zorse mares in the pasture with his Paint stallion to keep him company. He has bred them both hundreds of times over the years but no offspring have ever resulted.

Zorses tend to be very hardy and live into their 30s with good care. Their temperaments are generally similar to those of their mothers, but like the zebra they do have a strong flight response. Because of this it's best for a first time hybrid owner to get a zedonk instead. When a zedonk startles he freezes up like a donkey rather than bolt blindly like a horse or zebra.

Mule

True Wild Life | Mule | A mule is the result of the mating of a male donkey (jack) and a female horse (mare) to produce a hybrid. The much rarer hinny is the result of mating a female donkey (jennet) with a male horse (stallion) although the hinny is much harder to produce than the mule. The jennet's reproductive system is more efficient at detecting and eliminating foreign DNA than the mare's is. The hinny conception rate is lower and the miscarriage rate is higher. It really isn't possible to distinguish a mule from a hinny by appearance. Mules are anatomically normal and show normal breeding behavior unless gelded (castrated) early in life.

Mules are sterile due to an uneven chromosome count. There are have been a very few rare cases since the 1500s where female mules have been known to produce a foal when mated to a stallion or jack. Males are completely sterile, and as an old muleman said,"Ain't nothing meaner than a stud mule!" Mules are commonly found around the world in any area where there are donkeys and horses inhabiting the same environment. Mules have been bred by humans for use as riding and pack animals, and for ploughing or any work one does with horses.

The mule's body type and temperament depend on the breed of mare and jack used. Huge draft mules are created by breeding draft horses such as Belgians to Mammoth jacks. They have the size and power of the draft horse with the mule's ability to tolerate heat and less feed. Racing mules are produced using Throughbred mares, and trail mules are often produced from Quarter horses, Paint horses, and Appaloosas. Mules come in any horse or donkey color or combination of both. A mule is easily distinguished from a donkey by looking at the tail. A mule's tail is haired all the way to the top like a horse's tail; a donkey's tail has a tuft on the end like a cow. They compete successfully with horses in all venues including dressage.

The mule has the patience, endurance, sure footedness, sense, and drought tolerance of the donkey, combined with the size, speed, strength and courage of the horse. Operators of working animals generally find mules preferable to horses as mules have harder skin that is less sensitive than that of horses, meaning that mules can deal with climate extremes such as strong sun and rain more easily. They require less food and water than a horse of the same size. The mules hooves are harder than horses hooves, and both the mule and the mules hooves show a natural resistance to disease and insects.

Horse

True Wild Life | Horse | Horses evolved over 50 million years from small many toed animals to the big beautiful, single-toed horses of today. The modern horse has been domesticated around the world for many reasons including transportation and battle. Horses tend to live for about 30 years, and the oldest recorded horse at age 56 died in 2007. Horses graze on plant matter and vegetation, preferably tender green grass. The height of a horse is measured in hands, 1 hand being the same as 10cm (4 inches). The age of the horse is estimated by the pattern of tooth wear in his mouth.

An adult female is called a mare, and a young female is called a filly. An adult male is a stallion, and a young male is a colt. An unweaned baby of either sex is a foal. Castrated males and spayed females are called geldings. Mares carry their young inside them for approximately 11 months. When the baby horse is born, the young horse is often able to stand and then run about not long after birth. A mare comes into season one month after her foal is born. If she is remated then, she will have a foal at the same time each year. The horses' hoofs are made out of horn which comes in different colors, with black being most common. Horses with white feet often have white hoofs, which are more brittle than pigmented ones. Appaloosa horses often have striped hoofs consisting of both pigmented and white hoof material.

There are thought to be more than 300 different breeds of horse found around the world today, each being bred for a purpose. Enormous draft horses such as Clydesdales pull heavy wagons, lighter saddle horses are for riding, and pony breeds are suitable for children and small adults. Miniature horses (30" and under) are primarily pets, though some have been used to guide blind people.

Horses have remarkable hearing and are almost able to have 360 degree hearing. The sense of smell of the horse is better than that of a human but the horse tends to rely more on vision than smell. Their field of monocular vision is almost 360 degrees with a narrower field of binocular vision in front and slightly to the sides. Horses have a blind spot directly in front of the nose and directly behind them. For this reason it is better to approach from the side. Whether they can see color is inconclusive. They do have much better night vision than humans.

Horses have an advanced sense of taste which allows the horse to sort through grasses and grains to find the things that the horse would most like to eat. Horses generally will not eat plants that are poisonous, but when the horse cannot find more adequate food, the horse will eat plants that contain toxins. A horse's gut is designed to have food flowing through it almost continually, and horses graze most of the day if allowed.