Indian Wild Ass is also known as khur or ghudkhur. It is one of the subspecies of wild ass and its scientific name is Equus hemionus khur. The Indian Wild ass lives for twenty to twenty five years. It is one of the fastest animals in the world, which can run fifty kilometers per hour.

Physical Appearance of Indian Wild Ass
Unlike the African wild ass, the Indian wild ass looks more like a mule. The skin tone is usually sandy in colour but it may vary from reddish gray to beige to pale chestnut. The mane is dark and straight and it goes from the back of the head to the neck area. From the mane there is a dark brown stripe, which moves along the back of the animal to the tip of its tail. The Asiatic wild ass living in India may attain a length of two hundred and sixty centimeters and a shoulder height of one hundred and twenty centimeters. The tail is covered with brownish yellow hair. The body weight of the Indian Wild ass is somewhere between two hundred and fifty kilograms.

Habitat of Indian Wild Ass
The Asiatic Wild Ass lives in the saline desert, grasslands in arid zone and the shrub land of India. At present, the animal is mainly found in the little Rann of Kutch and its neighbouring areas (lying in the Greater Rann of Kutch) in the Gujarat state of India. Indian wild ass dwells in Surendranagar, Banaskantha, Mehsana, and other Kutch districts.

The male wild ass is called stallion and is found living alone in a small group of two or three members. It is also seen in small family groups. The Indian Wild ass mates during the rainy season. The stallions quarrel with each other for the possession of the female. The wild ass attains maturity at the age of two to three years. During the mating season, the female wild ass or mare goes with the stallion and after few days they come back to join the group. The gestation period is for nearly eleven months at one time only one calf is born.

Diet of Indian Wild Ass
The Indian Wild Ass usually consumes grass, leaves and fruits of plant crop, prosopis pods and salty vegetation. It usually grazes at dawn and at dusk.