Ulaanbaatar
Mongolia is Home to 90 Percent of Global Wild Ass Population
Society
Ulaanbaatar, February 16, 2024 /MONTSAME/. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia has reported that Mongolia is home to approximately 89 thousand wild asses, constituting 90 percent of the global wild ass population.
The habitat areas of the wild ass population
worldwide encompass over 360 thousand square kilometers, with the Mongolian
Gobi region standing for 72 percent of it. Wild asses earn the distinction
of having the longest migration distance among terrestrial animals worldwide. Mongolian wild asses annually migrate across
an area of up to 70 thousand square kilometers.
Intensive development of mining, road, and railway construction in
the south Gobi region of Mongolia, which serves as the core habitat for the
herds of Mongolian wild asses, poses formidable challenges. These challenges
include habitat degradation and constraints on their natural migration.
Notably, Mongolia spearheaded the development of a regional conservation plan
involving countries with wild ass populations last year.
During the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP14), which is taking place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on February 12-17, 2024, a panel discussion addressed crucial issues surrounding the study and conservation of wild asses. Organized by the Equid Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the panel discussion brought together researchers from Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and the United States to share expertise and foster collaboration. Representing Mongolia, B. Buuveibaatar (Ph.D.), a Senior Researcher from the Wildlife Conservation Society, presented on the "Status and Conservation of the Mongolian Wild Ass Population.”
