Currently, more than 600 Persian onagers are living in the wild, with the subpopulation along the border to Turkmenistan of Central Asia unseen since the 20th century.

The European Endangered Species Programme reserved for European Association of Zoos and Aquaria is helping save the Persian onager from extinction, by breeding them in captivity and reintroducing them to their former ranges, including in new locations once inhabited by Syrian onagers in Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Ukraine.

On August 30, 2014, Iranian officials reported that three Persian onagers were born in Khar Turan National Park reserve near Shahroud in Semnan province, where it also has the largest populations of the equids.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, also breeds Persian onagers, including two born in June 2015.

Since 2003, Persian onagers have been introduced in Saudi Arabia, where the Syrian wild ass (E. h. hemippus) once lived.

Introduced Persian onagers live in deserts foraging on grasses and branches or woodier plant material in dry seasons.

Offspring were introduced into the wild in the Negev Mountains area, intended to replace the local subspecies gone extinct.