Persian onager Persian onager The Persian onager ("Equus hemionus onager"), also called the Persian wild ass or Persian zebra, is a subspecies of onager (Asiatic wild ass) native to Iran. It is listed as Endangered, with no more than 600 individuals left in the wild and only 30 individuals living within North American institutions. The Persian onager is also simply named ', meaning "swift" in the Persian language, in which the word "gur" is preserved as the second syllable for ', which meant "donkey". Hence, onager. Sometimes, the term "onager" is reserved specifically for this subspecies. However, as the whole species of
Onager (weapon) These he says should be transported fully assembled on ox carts to ensure readiness in case of sudden attack, in which case the onagers could be used for defence immediately. For Vegetius, the onagers were stone throwing machines. In the late 6th century the Avars brought the Chinese traction trebuchet, otherwise known as the mangonel, to the Mediterranean, where it soon replaced the slower and more complex torsion powered engines. Onager (weapon) The onager (British /ˈɒnədʒə/, /ˈɒnəɡə/, U.S. /ˈɑnədʒər/) was an imperial-era Roman torsion powered siege engine; in other words, a small catapult. The onager was first mentioned in 353