Israel released 28 wild donkeys in desert; 44 years later, they created an oasis
Decades after being released into Israel's Ramon Crater, a population of wild donkeys has successfully adapted and helped restore the local ecosystem. The project, which began as a conservation effort involving international cooperation, has seen the population grow significantly.
Why it matters
This case study demonstrates the potential for rewilding and conservation efforts to successfully restore biodiversity in degraded arid environments.
Donkeys are more than just packs of animals and load carriers; these herbivores have the capacity to contribute more to the environment than most humans. Over four decades ago, authorities in Israel released 28 wild donkeys into the Ramon Crater, an extremely arid area of Israel's Negev Desert. The animals' daily habits completely transformed the landscape, helping bring it back to life.Wild donkeys once roamed this desert until intensive hunting in the early 20th century drove them to extinction in the region. The original plan by Israeli authorities was simply to return a lost species to its historical habitat for conservation reasons.
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