In 1982, Israel released 28 wild donkeys; 44 years later, they created a desert oasis

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. The animals released were not common domestic donkeys, but Persian onagers and African wild asses, two species on the brink of extinction whose arrival in Israel combined international diplomacy and a rescue operation in the midst of revolution.Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Israel and Iran maintained good diplomatic relations. General Avraham Yoffe, director of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, secretly negotiated with the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, for the transfer of Persian onagers from his royal reserves. Iran gifted Israel...