Nubian Wild Ass in Zoos?

I know it's believed that the Nubain Wild Ass (Equus africanus africanus) is Extinct in the Wild and the Somali Wild Ass (Equus africanus somaliensis) is Critically Endangered and on the brink of extinction in the wild but whenever I look for captive Nubian Wild Asses I just get results for captive Somali Wild Asses. So where are these Nubain Wild Asses kept and what's the breeding record for them? Are there any in the US? Does the AZA and its international counterparts deal with the animal or is it just the Somali subspecies?

~Thylo

 

It seems that Somali wild asses are uncommon in US zoos so Nubians are probably uncommon as well. Does anyone know if either of these subspecies are common in European or Australian zoos?

 

It's not known if there are any left in the wild, and as far as I know, none are in captivity.

 

I saw a photo of them in a zoo once. It was when I tried to find this photo again that made me think to ask this.

~Thylo

 

If it was the animal at Catskill, that was probably a hybrid between Somali Wild Ass and a donkey.

 

There are definitely no Somali or Nubian Wild Asses in Australasia, and apparently no Nubians in European zoos either.

Zootierliste says that there are 30 European zoos holding the Somali subspecies, including the Berlin Tierpark, where I have seen them. 30 zoos seems like quite a good number, so hopefully there is a relatively large and sustainable population there.

 

Is it very common for US zoos to obtain species from zoos around the world? I've always thought it would be nice to see wild asses in the US as it seems not too many zoos have them.

 

It doesn't seem like it with species not very common here and, in fact, it seems like the opposite happens. Although if the AZA thought it was absolutely necessary to bring in more Somali Wild Asses then I don't see a reason it wouldn't happen.

If you question was pertaining to all species in general, then I think so. Not too long ago the National Zoo traded a male Sumatran Tiger or another one with a zoo in Japan.

~Thylo

 

There is a photo of a 'Nubian' Wild Ass at Catskill in the Colin Groves book 'Horses, Asses and Zebras in the wild' and the caption states it is/was descended from animals bred at Munich Zoo. Not sure if that has since been proven incorrect?

 

Yes I saw so-called Nubian wild ass at Catskill about 30 years ago; I always thought the original stock was acquired from Munich Zoo via the Heck connection.

I now know that these asses were of doubtful purity but I didn’t realise that at the time;they looked much as I expected Nubian wild ass to look - although I’ve never seen any others to compare them with.

 

Last I knew, there was some question to its validity. Gerenuk would be able to answer that better than I.

Honestly, I don't know if I've ever even seen a photo of a 100% legitimate Nubian Wild Ass.

 

Gerenuk will tell you the same thing I'm about too: Nubians themselves may not be a true species and instead a somali x domestic hybrid. So whether or not catskills are "pure" is irrelevant. I visited that facility twice the last few months it was open to the public and in my opinion the few they had are nubians. If I havent Ill post the nubians pics I took.

 

According to Groves and Grubb, they consider it a valid subspecies (yes, they even call it a subspecies!). However, they also say more investigation is warranted.

 

Posted a photo of a REAL Nubian wild ass in the Berlin Zoo Gallery. The photo is from a zoo guide-book published in 1899 ( ! ) and it also mention the Zoo at Frankfurt was breeding African wild asses at that time ( not mention if Nubian, Somali or a mix of them ). Mr. L. Heck - the writer of the guide-book however mention clearly that the photo is of a pure Nubian !
Hopes it helps.

 

Wild Ass is understudied and a bit mysterious animal. DNA of the proven Nubian asses apparently was never compared to Somalian and domestic asses. There are also wild-living asses in Sahara. They may be feral domestics, but may also be overlooked new subspecies!

Groves & Chubb book, unfortunately, leaves much to be desired. There is odd species concept. Descriptions are full of vague statements trying to prove differences between subspecies or even full species: "bigger" "smaller" "darker" "paler" "often" "sometimes" etc. For example the text about Nubian wild ass: "long ears: 182-245mm", Somalian: "ears shorter 187-200mm". Without median and sample size, we can only note that one completely overlaps another...

 

In the International Zoo Yearbook volume 15 (1975), the 1974 rare animals in zoos census says that the Wild Ass studbook keeper is of the opinion that all Wild Asses descended from a 1937 importation cannot be pisitively identified and are listed as Equus asinus ssp. Known Somali Wild Ass were listed as E.a.somalicus.

Listed as E.asinus ssp were Berlin East 1.0 Catskill 6.11 Los Angeles 1.1 Munich 3.1

Proof that Catskill exhibited something, but not proof that it was Nubian Wild Ass.

 

Intresting reading : The nomenclature of the African wild ass, C.P. Groves and C. Smeeks, Zoologische Mededelingen vol. 81 ( 2007 ) pp. 121 - 135 !
Good article with some nice plates and pictures of a Nubian wild ass at Roma Zoo and Somalia wild ass at Bazle Zoo. Here clear differences can be seen between the 2 forms ( subspecies ).

 

In ' List of Vertebrated Animals Living in the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London ' 9th edition ( 1883 - 1895 ) the following births of African Wild asses are reported :
male may 21 1886
male nov 18 1887
female july 1 1889
male may 21 1891
female oct 13 1892
male sept 18 1894
I suspose these were all Nubian Wild Asses while the Somali Wild Ass has his own account in this list

 

Probably just animals that weren't identified as a subspecies.

~Thylo

 

I just read about Shadow Nursery in Tenessee and they are said to have a captive population of them.