Like so many other discoveries in this area, it was the explorer Wilfred Thesiger who first mentioned the wild donkeys roaming the gravel plains of the UAE. In the late 1940’s he shot one on the flats between Hatta and Dhaid and then sent its hide back to the London Museum for identification. It was identified as a feral donkey, and not, as assumed, a true wild ass. This, however, shows that the donkeys running wild in this area have been doing so for a number of years.
Although donkeys are now found all over the world, their roots are in the Middle East. In principle, there are two species of wild ass, ie. the African wild ass, with its several sub-species, and the Asiatic wild ass, which also has a number of sub-species.
The Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) was represented in the Arabian Peninsula by the Syrian wild ass (Equus hemionus hemippus). This animal is mentioned in the Bible, but it is uncertain whether the people of ancient times ever tried to capture, tame and domesticate it, as it was known to be fierce, powerful and independent. Capable of surviving under the harshest conditions, these animals lived a secluded life in small herds until some 60 years ago when they were ruthlessly slaughtered for meat. They have been extinct since 1927.
The donkeys which run wild in the Gulf are descendants of the African wild ass (Equus asinus) and are related to the Nubian wild ass ( Equus asinus africanus), which is actually assumed to be the true ancestor of all domestic donkeys.
Unfortunately this animal has also become extinct in the wild, and only a few specimens exist in zoos. It is even uncertain how pure their blood is. At one point they ranged from the Upper Nile in Egypt to Sudan, living in arid terrain in small. Herds, normally being led by a careful old mare.
There are no true wild asses living in this area, and the animals that we see on trips in the mountains, the gravel plains or even the open desert, are descendants of imported domestic donkeys, whose ancestral roots go back to the Nubian wild ass. In the past some of these imported donkeys escaped; others were set free in more recent times when their usefulness was replaced by the car. In this way donkeys have been running wild in the Gulf area for many generations. Having adopted so superbly to the local environment, they can now be considered as part of the local fauna.