Dziggetai, a species of wild ass, more horse-like than the others. It is probably the hemionus ("half-ass") of Herodotus and Pliny. It inhabits the elevated steppes of Tartary, extending into the S. of Persia and to the borders of India. The dziggetai lives in small herds, sometimes of several males and several females, sometimes with a single male with about 20 females and foals. It has been partially domesticated, but does not seem to breed in captivity. It is also known by the names of kiang, khur, and goor.


Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia, 1912.

Dzig"ge*tai (?), n. Zool.

The kiang, a wild horse or wild ass of Thibet (Asinus hemionus).

⇒ The name is sometimes applied also to the koulan or onager. See Koulan.

 

© Webster 1913.

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