Gerry asked of Piotr
> Actually it was Alekseev who mentioned an early relief in Iraq
which dates to the third millennium BC depicting the horse as a
loading animal. I remember researching the Behistun relief and
perhaps misread that it was at Persepolis. I should have some free
time tomorrow to research it again but could you perhaps give me some
preliminary info on the Behistun relief? If it wasn't at Persepolis,
then where was it located?
>
> And thanks for the description of an onager. Guess it looks more
like a donkey. Do you know anything about the habits of an onager.
For example, were they loners or herd animals?
The onager was a herd animal.
Often defined as a half donkey the Onager are actually independently
related to the horse, whose former habitat extended over far sections
of the asiatic continent. As steppe inhabitants they are very fleet
of foot. Nowadays it widely hunted, because of alleged competition to
domestic animals or for use in theaters of war (e.g. Afghanistan) as
cheap source of meat. The stalion either leads a herd with up to 15
mares and foals or it shows territorial behavior, staking a territory
and waiting for any females which come by. During the drought the
stalion drives the females long distances over a huge range. The
females drop their first foal after approx. 3 years. The foal is
fully grown after about 1 year. Over her breeding life the mare
delivers a max. of one new generation every two years. About 150 of
these animals survive in the zoos of the world.
The onager attracted a reputation for its "toughness", which is why
its name was given to a Roman seige engine.
A good site for information on the onager is at
http://www.arabianwildlife.com/past_arw/vol1.2/onager.htm
Regards
John