A sandy and saline area is the natural habitat of an India animal species. The animal has no predators in that area but its existence is threatened due to the destruction of its habitat. Which one of the following could be that animal?

The Indian wild ass (Equus hemionus khur), locally known as the Khur, is endemic to the saline deserts and arid grasslands of the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. This region is characterized by a unique ecosystem of saline depressions and sandy plains. The animal is highly adapted to these harsh, arid conditions and is one of the fastest land mammals in India. While it has no natural predators in its current restricted range, its existence is primarily threatened by habitat destruction, degradation, and fragmentation. Historically widespread across northwestern India, its last refuge is now the Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary in the Little Rann of Kutch. Other options like the Indian wild buffalo prefer wet floodplains, while the Indian gazelle (chinkara) inhabits a broader range of arid scrub forests rather than being restricted to saline desert areas [1].

Sources

1. [1] CONTEMPORARY INDIA-I ,Geography, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 5: Natural Vegetation and Wildlife > WILDLIFE > p. 43