# Onager (*Equus hemionus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/onager  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The onager (Equus hemionus), also called the khur or kulan, is a mammal of the family Equidae in the order Perissodactyla. It is a large, terrestrial herbivore with a cathemeral activity pattern and an adult body mass of 240 kg. Females have 1 young per litter after a gestation period of 346 days, and the age at sexual maturity is 3.2 years. The IUCN Red List classifies the onager as Near Threatened, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 230 kg – 240 kg |
| Length | 2.1 m |
| Lifespan | 28.9 years – 38.8 years |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | desert, grassland |
| Gestation | 346 days – 365 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 |
| Age at maturity | 3.17 years – 3.25 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 0.7 |
| Active | Day and night (cathemeral) |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Conservation status | Near Threatened (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Perissodactyla
- family: Equidae
- genus: Equus
- species: *Equus hemionus* Pallas, 1775

Synonyms: *Equus bahram*, *Equus bedfordi*, *Equus castaneus*, *Equus dzigguetai*, *Equus finschi*, *Equus hamar*, *Equus hemionos*, *Equus indicus*, *Equus indicus*, *Equus onager*, *Equus syriacus*, *Equus typicus*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the onager?

The onager is a mammal in the family Equidae, genus Equus, and order Perissodactyla.

### How heavy is an onager?

An adult onager has a body mass of 240 kg, which places it in the large size class.

### What does the onager eat?

The onager is a herbivore.

### How long does an onager live?

The onager has a lifespan of 28.86 years, with values up to 38.8 years reported.

### How many young does an onager have?

The onager has 1 young per litter, at a rate of 0.7 litters per year, after a gestation period of 346 days.

### Who named the onager?

The scientific name Equus hemionus was given by Pallas, 1775.

### What are other names for the onager?

The onager is also called the khur, kulan, hemione, Gobi kulan and Asian zebra.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Onager (Equus hemionus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/onager