Turkmenian kulan
Equus hemionus kulan
Seen by the oracleIts power
It walks dozens of kilometres a day to find a waterhole, and remembers it from one year to the next.
Estimated wild population
About 7,000 adults
Trend
Declining (50% in a few decades)
Range
Kazakhstan / Turkmenistan / Mongolia / Uzbekistan
Main threat
Poaching, competition with livestock, habitat loss as farmland spreads
Meet it
It really exists. It is waiting for you at the Parc Animalier d’Auvergne.
The kulan is the largest subspecies of the Asiatic wild ass. It can reach 70 km/h, faster than most racehorses. It has amazing stamina and can travel long distances to find grazing and waterholes in the steppes and semi-deserts of Central Asia. Its long ears, sandy coat and dark stripe along its back make it look halfway between a horse and a donkey. Its numbers have dropped by more than 50% in a few decades, because of heavy poaching, habitat loss when farm animals overgraze the land, and fences blocking its migration routes.
What the Park does
Nature reserves in Kazakhstan and Mongolia, moving animals to new areas