Onager the Zygophyllaceae form an important component of the diet of the Mongolian wild ass. The onager is preyed upon by apex predators such as Persian leopard and striped hyenas. A few cases of onager deaths due to predation by leopards were recorded in Iran. Though leopards do not usually feed on equids as in Africa, this may be because Persian leopards are larger and strong enough to prey on Asiatic wild asses. In the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, Asiatic lions and tigers were the biggest predators of onagers. They were also formerly preyed upon by Asiatic wild dog,
Animal studies and to understand animals as beings-in-themselves, separate from our knowledge of them. Because the field is still developing, scholars and others have some freedom to define their own criteria about what issues may structure the field. As an interdisciplinary subject, animal studies exists at the intersection of a number of different fields of study. Different fields began to turn to animals as an important topic at different times and for various reasons, and these separate disciplinary histories shape how scholars approach animal studies. In part, animal studies developed out of the animal liberation movement and was grounded in ethical questions