The African wild ass is the ancestor of the domestic donkey and one of the most endangered large mammals on Earth, with fewer than 600 individuals surviving in the wild in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Djibouti.
Wild African wild asses face survival conditions of extreme precarity. Competition with livestock for scarce water and grazing in arid habitats causes chronic nutritional stress. Hunting for bushmeat and traditional medicine creates direct persecution. Climate change is intensifying drought frequency in their range, compressing already limited resources. The welfare of individual animals in these conditions reflects a broader failure of habitat protection and anti-poaching enforcement. Captive populations in zoos and reserves provide insurance against extinction but face the welfare challenges of captive management for a highly active desert species adapted to vast open spaces.