Equidae: Zebras, Wild Asses & Horses

[Rishi]

Gujarat: A 30% surge of population, Asiatic wild ass hits 6,000
Himanshu Kaushik | TNN | Apr 11, 2020

Besides the 4,953 km² area of Little Rann of Kutch which forms the Wild Ass Sanctuary, their census covered around 15,000 sq.km area across 6 districts, where movement of the animals have been recorded in recent years.

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AHMEDABAD: The population of the Indian wild ass has shown a steep rise of 30% with their population reaching 6,000 as per the latest census held in March, top sources said. The last census held in 2015, showed their population at 4,451. The final figures post the census held in March 2020 declared by the state government.

Like with the Asiatic lion, Gujarat is also the only abode for Indian wild ass which have been pulled out from the brink of extinction by years of efforts. A senior government official said that this was could be the second highest increase after 1998. In the year 1998, there was an increase of nearly 42% when the number reached 2,940. This number was 2,072 in 1993.

The official said that in terms of absolute numbers this would be the highest increase of 1,300. The Little Rann of Kutch region, spread in over 5000 sq km, is the only protected home for the Indian wild ass (equus hemionus khur).

A paper titled ‘Status of Indian wild ass in the Little Rann of Kutch by HS Singh states that about six decades ago there were an estimated about 2,000 khurs in the Little Rann. In 1958 and 1960, an arthropod borne disease known as Surra, caused by Trypanosoma evansi took a heavy toll on wild asses. In November-December 1961, some wild asses died due to an outbreak of South African horse sickness and a dwindled population of 870 individuals in 1962.

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The officer said that wild ass population has hit a bright spot as it has grown from estimated 720 in April 1976 to 4,451 by 2015.

The senior officer said that of the total wild asses, 70% were recorded in small group sizes (3-20 wild ass) to medium sizes (21-40 wild ass) while nearly 30% were sighted in the big groups of over 40 animals. There has been some debate about duplication in counting and after due consideration, a conservative number of 6,000 has been arrived at. Since wild ass was a Schedule-I species, the final declaration of the number would be made by the higher officers in consultation with political authority, he said.

The entire existing range of the wild asses have been divided into three regions – Dhrangadhra in Surendranagar, Bhachau in Kutch & Radhanpur in Patan on periphery of the Little Rann of Kutch (LRK), along with parts of Mehsana district. Their movement has been recorded near Nal Sarovar and Bhal area of Ahmedabad. Besides the Little Rann of Kutch and Great Rann of Kutch, this census covered most of eastern Kutch as wild ass movement had been recorded in some pockets of Bhachau, Gandhidham and Bhuj talukas of Kutch too.



https://m.timesofindia.com/city/ahmedaba...091154.cms
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