You’ve probably never heard of it!
One of the world’s rarest animals has been born at a UK zoo, bringing plenty of celebration.
The Persian onager was born in Chester Zoo to mother Azita after she was pregnant for a year.
The onager is closely related to the domestic donkey and originates from the semi-desert region of Iran. They are also known to inhabit mountain steppes and desert plains.
The foal has been named Jasper whose name relates to treasure in Persian.
The arrival of Jasper the “leggy youngster” could help prevent the species from extinction according to conservationists at Chester Zoo, who say that there are less than 600 onagers in the wild.
Mike Jordan, animal and plant director at Chester Zoo, described his delight with the arrival of the new born.
He said Jasper is “doing very well” and added that “mum Azita is doing a fantastic job of nurturing and bonding with her new charge.
“He’s full of energy and enjoys playfully kicking up sand as he races around his habitat.”
Wild donkeys used to be common sites in the deserts of Mongolia, China and Iran, but unfortunately few species remain.
A spokesman from the zoo said the small population of wild Onagers only survive in two small, protected areas in Iran.
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Conservationists say that numbers of the species have diminished as a result of multiple factors.
These include illegal poaching, overgrazing, drought and disease from farm animals leading to their population dropping by more than 50 per cent in the last 20 years.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the species as endangered.
Mike Jordan said: “With numbers having declined so rapidly in the wild, and the species now teetering on the edge of existence in Iran, it’s sadly very possible that onagers could become extinct in the wild within our lifetime.”
One scheme led by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria is breeding the onager in captivity and then reintroducing the animal back into the wild in its original habitats.
They hope to increase the numbers of the animal back up to non-endangered levels.
