Editing Negev (section)

==Flora and fauna==
[[File:Acacia Negev.JPG|thumb|Of the three ''[[Acacia]]'' species growing in high plateau of the Negev, ''Acacia pachyceras'' is the most cold-resistant.]]

Vegetation in the Negev is sparse, but certain trees and plants thrive there, among them ''[[Acacia]]'', ''[[Pistacia]]'', ''[[Retama]]'', ''[[Urginea maritima]]'' and ''[[Thymelaea]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1= Bailey |first1= C. |last2= Danin |first2= A. |doi= 10.1007/BF02858682 |title= Bedouin plant utilization in Sinai and the Negev |journal= Economic Botany |volume= 35 |issue= 2 |pages= 145 |year= 1981 |bibcode= 1981EcBot..35..145B |s2cid= 27839209}}</ref> ''[[Hyphaene thebaica]]'' or doum palm can be found in the Southern Negev. The Evrona Nature Reserve is the most northerly point in the world where this palm can be found.
[[File:Tulipa systola 1.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Tulips]] flowering in the Negev Mountains around early spring]]

A small population of [[Arabian leopard]]s, an endangered animal in the Arabian peninsula, has survived in the southern Negev but is now probably extinct.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-6236634.html |title=Gulf-Environment: Arabian Leopard Faces Extinction |access-date=8 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505022421/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-6236634.html|archive-date=5 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite iucn |author=Stein, A.B. |author2=Athreya, V. |author3=Gerngross, P. |author4=Balme, G. |author5=Henschel, P. |author6=Karanth, U. |author7=Miquelle, D. |author8=Rostro-García, S. |author9=Kamler, J.F. |author10=Laguardia, A. |author11=Khorozyan, I. |author12=Ghoddousi, A. |year=2023 |title=''Panthera pardus'' |volume=2023 |page=e.T15954A215195554 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T15954A215195554.en |access-date=14 May 2024}}</ref> Other [[carnivora]] found in the Negev are the [[caracal]], the [[striped hyena]], the [[Arabian wolf]], the [[golden jackal]] and the [[marbled polecat]].<ref name="Israel's Unique Wildlife">[https://davidson.weizmann.ac.il/en/online/sciencepanorama/israels-unique-wildlife "Israel's Unique Wildlife"] at the Davidson Institute.</ref>

The [[Arabah]] [[Arabian gazelle]] survives with a few individuals in the Negev.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shalmon |first1=Benny |last2=Sun |first2=Ping |last3=Wronski |first3=Torsten |title=Factors driving Arabian gazelles (Gazella arabica) in Israel to extinction: time series analysis of population size and juvenile survival in an unexploited population |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |date=January 2020 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=315–332 |doi=10.1007/s10531-019-01884-8 |bibcode=2020BiCon..29..315S |doi-access=free }}</ref> The [[dorcas gazelle]] is more numerous, with some 1,000–1,500 individuals in the Negev.<ref name="Israel's Unique Wildlife"/> Some 350 to 500 [[Nubian ibex]] live in the Negev Highlands and in the [[Eilat Mountains]].<ref>[https://www.teva.org.il/?CategoryID=949&ArticleID=4910 "Nubian Ibex"] at ''natureisrael.org''.</ref><ref>{{cite iucn |author=Ross, S. |author2=Elalqamy, H. |author3=Al Said, T. |author4=Saltz, D. |year=2020 |title=''Capra nubiana'' |volume=2020 |page=e.T3796A22143385 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T3796A22143385.en |access-date=14 May 2024}}</ref>

The [[Negev shrew]] is a species of [[mammal]] of the family ''[[Soricidae]]'' that is found only in Israel.<ref>{{cite iucn |author=Hutterer, R. |author2=Shenbrot, G. |date=2017 |title=''Crocidura ramona'' |volume=2017 |page=e.T136722A89475013 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T136722A89475013.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref> A population of the critically endangered [[Kleinmann's tortoise]] (also known as the [[Negev tortoise]]) survives in the sands of the western and central Negev Desert.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jerusalemzoo.org.il/len/apage/3006.php |title=Re-introduction – Negev tortoise|website=jerusalemzoo.org.il |access-date=8 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215095317/http://jerusalemzoo.org.il/len/apage/3006.php|archive-date=15 December 2013}}</ref>

Desert snails of the genus [[Euchondrus]] feed on [[endolith]]ic lichens which live inside limestone rocks, converting rock and lichen into soil, and releasing between 22 and 27 milligrams of nitrogen per square metre of soil through their faeces.<ref>[https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12717332-400-science-rock-crunching-snails-turn-the-desert-green/ Science: Rock crunching snails turn the desert green]</ref>

Animals that were reintroduced after their [[extinct in the wild|extinction in the wild]] or [[local extinction|localised extinction]] respectively are the [[Arabian oryx]] and the [[onager|Asiatic wild ass]], which in the Negev number about 250 animals.<ref>{{cite iucn |author=Kaczensky, P. |author2=Lkhagvasuren, B. |author3=Pereladova, O. |author4=Hemami, M. |author5=Bouskila, A. |date=2020 |title=''Equus hemionus'' |volume=2020 |page=e.T7951A166520460 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T7951A166520460.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref>

Like many areas in Israel and the rest of the Middle East, the Negev used to host in the distant past the [[Asiatic lion]] and the [[Asiatic cheetah]] until their complete extinction at the hands of humans in later centuries.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Meiri |first1=Shai |last2=Belmaker |first2=Amos |last3=Berkowic |first3=Daniel |last4=Kazes |first4=Kesem |last5=Maza |first5=Erez |last6=Bar-Oz |first6=Guy |last7=Dor |first7=Roi |title=A checklist of Israeli land vertebrates |journal=Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution |date=21 March 2019 |volume=65 |issue=1–2 |pages=43–70 |doi=10.1163/22244662-20191047 }}</ref>

The [[Arabian ostrich]] was once common in the Negev, but became extinct in the 1920s due to widespread hunting by humans.<ref name="haaretz_ref1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/2007-12-25/ty-article/the-bitter-fate-of-ostriches-in-the-wild/0000017f-db5a-db5a-a57f-db7af66d0000|title=The Bitter Fate of Ostriches in the Wild|last=Rinat|first=Zafrir|date=December 25, 2007|work=[[Haaretz]]|access-date=November 7, 2023|language=en}}</ref> There was an attempt to reintroduce the ostrich to the Negev using the [[North African ostrich]] in 2004 but it failed. <ref name = Seddon>Seddon, P.J. & Soorae, P.S. (1999)</ref>