Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? Two kinds of onager' or wild ass, seem to be intended—the one called pore' ( פִרֶא), and the other 'arod ( עָרוֹד). These correspond probably to the Asinus hemippus and the Asinus onager of modern naturalists, the former of which is still found in the deserts of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Northern Arabia, while the latter inhabits Western Asia from 48° N.
lat. southward to Persia, Beloochistan, and Western India. Sir H. A. Layard describes the former, which he saw, as a "beautiful animal, in fleetness equalling the gazelle, very wild, and of a rich fawn colour, almost pink".
The latter (Asinus onager) was seen by Sir R. K. Porter in Persia, and is described in very similar terms. The two, however, appear to be distinct species. Both animals are remarkable for extreme wildness; and all attempts to domesticate the young of either have hitherto failed.