Wildlife of Jordan

The wildlife of Jordan includes its flora and fauna and their natural habitats. Although much of the country is desert, it has several geographic regions, each with a diversity of plants and animals adapted to their own particular habitats. Fossil finds show that in Palaeolithic times, the region had Syrian brown bears, Asiatic lions, zebras, Asian elephants, and rhinoceroses, but these species are all now extinct in this region.^[1]

More recently, in the twentieth century, the Arabian oryx became locally extinct through hunting, and several species of deer and gazelle were reduced to remnant populations. The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature was established in 1966 to preserve Jordan's natural resources, a number of protected areas have been set up, and conservation measures and captive breeding programs have been put in place, resulting in an increase in the numbers of these animals. In 1978, 11 Arabian oryx were brought in to Jordan from the US. They were taken care of at the  Shaumari Wildlife Reserve. Since then, not only has the oryx population reached to 200, but Jordan is supplying other countries with oryx.^[2] Many other mammals are found in Jordan, over four hundred species of bird visit or live in the country and over two thousand plant species have been recorded here. A total of 220 bird species migrate to and from Jordan from, Europe, Asia and Africa. In addition, 150 species are native to Jordan.