In June last year, a group of rare wild animals was photographed in the wetland of Gongma Township, Changsha, Shiqu County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province. They are sturdy, wading across streams and puddles, and running recklessly on the vast western Sichuan plateau.

Some people think they are wild horses, but in fact they are Equus kiang, also known as Tibetan wild asses. They are the largest of all wild donkeys, with a reddish-brown coat, and is often mistaken for a wild horse because it resembles a mule, with a much larger body and hooves than a domestic donkey.

Living in the alpine desert, the Tibetan wild ass is born with a heart that wants to be a wild horse. They are born good at running, and have an extremely sensitive sense of hearing, smell, and sight. They can detect situations hundreds of meters away from them. If they find someone approaching or an enemy attack, they first quietly look up and stare for a moment, then sprint with their hoofs raised. After running a distance, once they feel safe, they will stop, stand, and see, and then run again. They always run, stop, look, and then run again.