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 eleven onagers in 1968, which were flown to the Yotvata Wildlife Reserve, where a captive breeding program was established.During the 1970s, Israel expanded the project’s genetic diversity by purchasing a small herd of African wild ass from Ethiopia, which was transported by specially equipped ships and trucks to reserves in the south of the country. After more than a decade of controlled breeding in Yotvata, scientists determined that the group was large and healthy enough for its final release. In 1982, they selected Ramon Crater as the site to return the wild asses to their natural habitat.Today, the population of the wild donkeys in the desert stand at between 500 and 600 across the region. Over the years, their most striking contribution to the land has come during periods of severe drought. Their short, sandy coat, lacking the dark cross-shaped stripe across their shoulders, allows them to camouflage themselves among the desert rocks. Their bodies are more slender and athletic, with long legs similar to those of a small horse, and they can reach speeds of 60 to 70 kilometres per hour to escape predators.Their extremely hard hooves are designed for walking on rocky terrain without wearing down, and they are the tools they use to dig waterholes in the dry land. Their metabolism allows them to withstand temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius and enables them to go several days without drinking water, losing up to 30% of their body weight through dehydration without dying.Driven by the need for water, the mammals scrape away sand with their hooves until they reach underground sources, digging holes as deep as six and a half feet. These small wells also provide vital relief for other animals in the area such as foxes, gazelles and even bats, allowing them to quench their thirst and survive the lack of rain.Not just wells, the donkeys walk for hours across the desert and feed on plants, particularly acacia pods. They swallow the seeds and disperse them along the way through their droppings. The aim of the restoration is also the preservation of the acacia trees, which sustain the desert by fixing nitrogen and providing shade and food for dozens of species. Their seeds barely germinated on their own until the donkeys began devouring their pods: the gastric juices weaken the outer shell without damaging the seed, which germinates rapidly when expelled in the animal’s moist dung. Thus, without realising it, they help in the sowing and growth of new trees, restoring the patches of green across the region.The simple act of moving across the landscape also makes a difference. Their repeated footsteps create small depressions and ridges in the sand that retain water whenever a storm arrives. Thanks to the animals’ quiet work, a hostile and extreme environment has become an ecosystem capable of offering dozens of species a second chance.Along with this Israeli scientists took two other steps that worked as key actions in this restoration. Instead of pursuing genetic purity that could have jeopardised the project, Israel crossbred the Iranian onager with the Ethiopian wild ass. The resulting hybrid specimens developed greater immunity to disease and superior adaptation to the desert’s climatic fluctuations. Moreover, they built terraces and compacted earth dams inspired by Nabataean techniques to retain winter flash floods and keep groundwater levels high.Thanks to this combination of factors, the Ramon crater and the Negev desert have gone from being plains on the verge of collapse to a model of ecological resilience that is now studied worldwide.