A wild ass of Northeast Africa. This entry treats it as a wild species, separate from the domestic donkey.
It has a lean, muscular body, a short coat from gray to reddish buff, a white underside, long ears and a thin, upright mane. Leg stripes vary among subspecies.
In Eritrea’s Danakil Desert, researchers modelled wet- and dry-season habitat for African wild asses using field observations from 2002–06 and 2016–19. Distance to water and rainfall in the driest month were key dry-season predictors, while temperature and warm-season rainfall helped explain wet-season suitability.
The Messir Plateau fell within optimal habitat in both seasons. The model mapped 130 km² of optimal and 3,320 km² of suitable habitat in the dry season, compared with 739 km² of optimal and 2,323 km² of suitable habitat in the wet season. The potential range was about 11,000 km², of which suitable habitat covered 30.2% in the dry season and 21.1% in the wet season. The main areas were separated in the dry season but contiguous in the wet season.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
A 2023 study of Eritrea’s Danakil Desert identified the Messir Plateau as important in both seasonal habitat models and reported that it and nearby suitable areas were not formally protected at publication. Seasonal access to water is a relevant local conservation consideration. This does not confirm current legal protection or a global category, assessment date, or trend.