Wildlife of Israel - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The wildlife of Israel includes the flora

Flora

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

and fauna

Fauna

Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...

of Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, which is extremely diverse due to the country's location between the temperate

Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...

and the tropical zones

Geographical zone

The five main latitude regions of the Earth's surface comprise geographical zones, divided by the major circles of latitude. The differences between them relate to climate, and the behaviour of the Sun...

, bordering the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

in the west and the desert in the east. Species such as the Syrian Brown Bear

Syrian Brown Bear

The Syrian brown bear is a relatively small subspecies of brown bear native to Eurasia.- Distribution :Within the former Soviet Union, it occurs in Transcaucasia, Talysh, Northern Armenia, Abkhazia, Karabakh and Kopet Dag. Outside the ex-USSR, it occurs in Iran, Iraq and Turkey...

and the Arabian ostrich

Arabian Ostrich

The Middle Eastern Ostrich or Arabian Ostrich is an extinct subspecies of the ostrich which once lived on the Arabian Peninsula and in the Near East. Its range seems to have been continuous in prehistoric times, but with the drying-up of the Arabian Peninsula, it disappeared from the inhospitable...

have become extinct due to hunting and loss of habitat. As of May 2007, 190 nature reserves have been established in Israel.

Fauna

Mammals

Israel contains a variety of mammals due to its geographical and climatic diversity. For many of the mammals, Israel is the border of their territory. The territories of species which originate in the Palearctic

Palearctic

The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth's surface.Physically, the Palearctic is the largest ecozone...

generally stop at the deserts and those who originate from the African deserts usually stop at the Mediterranean coasts. Most of the mammals in Israel are of a Palearctic origin and about tenth of the mammals are endemic to its general area

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

. The Land of Israel once contained a variety of mammals, however in recent times many mammals such as the European Water Vole, the Cheetah

Cheetah

The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...

and the Caucasian Squirrel

Caucasian Squirrel

The Caucasian squirrel is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus endemic to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey. Its natural habitat is temperate broadleaf and mixed forests....

went locally extinct.
In the modern age many mammal populations such as the Arabian Leopard

Arabian leopard

The Arabian leopard is a leopard subspecies native to the Arabian Peninsula and classified as critically endangered by IUCN since 1996. Less than 200 animals remained in 2006...

and the Sand Cat

Sand Cat

The sand cat , also referred to as the "sand dune cat", is a small wild cat distributed over African and Asian deserts. The Sand cat lives in arid areas that are too hot and dry even for the African Wildcat: the Sahara, the Arabian Desert, and the deserts of Iran and...

are in a high risk of extinction. In total there are 57 species of mammals which are endangered (as of 2002) out of the total 104 species.
The largest living predator in Israel is the Striped Hyena

Striped Hyena

The Striped Hyena is a species of true hyena native to North and East Africa, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Middle and Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent...

and its population too is endangered. There are 33 species of bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

s in Israel (as of 2002), the most species out of the ten mammalian orders

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

currently in Israel, most of which are insect-eaters.

Various animal species are now extinct due to unchecked hunting under Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

rule and to a lesser extent under British Mandate rule, due to a non-enforcement of hunting laws. By the beginning of the 20th century, the White Oryx

Arabian Oryx

The Arabian Oryx or White Oryx is a medium sized antelope with a distinct shoulder hump, long straight horns, and a tufted tail. It is a bovid, and the smallest member of Oryx genus, native to desert and steppe areas of the Arabian peninsula...

, the Syrian Brown Bear, the Cheetah

Cheetah

, and the Nile Crocodile

Nile crocodile

The Nile crocodile or Common crocodile is an African crocodile which is common in Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Gabon, South Africa, Malawi, Sudan, Botswana, and Cameroon...

became extinct in the region. Modern hunting laws prohibit all hunting of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibian

Amphibian

Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...

s, except those considered pests and specific animals in hunting seasons.

Rapid urbanization

Urbanization

Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....

as well as overforestation (planting many dense Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

and Pine

Pine

Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

forests) have caused the destruction of many natural habitats. One of the most famous examples of habitats destroyed is the drying of swamps including the Hula lake which caused the local extinction of the European Water Vole and jungle cat

Jungle Cat

The jungle cat is a medium-sized cat and considered the largest remaining species of the wild cat genus Felis. The species is also called the swamp lynx but is not closely related to the lynxes....

.

Another distinguished cause of endangerment is the past use of DDT

DDT

DDT is one of the most well-known synthetic insecticides. It is a chemical with a long, unique, and controversial history....

and other chemicals which has hurt all of the birds of prey populations as well as the bat population (mainly Microchiroptera) which were also killed by human made lighting in the caves due to the suspicion that fruit-eating bats were harming local crops.

A few mammals that have gone locally extinct are being reintroduced such as the Persian Fallow Deer

Persian fallow deer

The Persian Fallow Deer is a rare ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. Its taxonomic status is disputed, with some maintaining it as a subspecies of the Fallow Deer, while other treat it as a separate species, Dama mesopotamica.-Description:Persian fallow deer are bigger than Fallow...

and the Roe Deer

Roe Deer

The European Roe Deer , also known as the Western Roe Deer, chevreuil or just Roe Deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from...

Reptiles

Israel has roughly 100 species of reptiles, of which almost a third live in its northern areas. The extinction rate among reptiles has been relatively tame, reptiles that went extinct in the beginning of the 20th century include the Nile Crocodile

Nile crocodile

, the European Pond Turtle and the Levant Viper.

Amphibians

The number of amphibians in Israel has decreased dramatically since the last century mainly due to the drying of various swamps and wetlands by early settlers. The Israel painted frog

Israel painted frog

The Israel painted frog, or Hula painted frog is an amphibian, thought to be extinct until one female specimen was found on 16 November 2011...

is now extinct. There are currently six species of amphibians in Israel, only one of which is not endangered

Least Concern

Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...

.

The amphibians of Israel include four from the order

Order (biology)

Anura (the Marsh Frog, Hyla savignyi

Hyla savignyi

Hyla savignyi is a species of frog in the Hylidae family. It is found in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kurdistan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen...

, the Green Toad and the Pelobates syriacus (Eastern Spadefoot Toad) and two from the order Urodela (the Fire Salamander and the Banded Newt). The Banded Newt and the Eastern Spadefoot Toad are critically endangered.

The European Green Toad

European Green Toad

The species group of the green toads is an anuran group toad found in mainland Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. They live in many areas, including steppes, mountainous areas, semi-deserts, and urban areas...

is the most widespread amphibian in Israel, living across nearly the entire Mediterranean shore. While the toad is usually limited to areas with a constant supply of water, populations have begun to spread into drier places. Even though it has relative great range in Israel, a 55% decrease has been noted in active spawning

Spawn (biology)

Spawn refers to the eggs and sperm released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning...

sites, mainly due to destruction of habitats, water contamination and habitats being split by roads or train tracks. The population currently numbers at a few thousands.

The Eastern Spadefoot Toad (Pelobates syriacus syriacus or Pelobates transcaucasicus), also called Syrian Spadefoot Toad, is critically endangered and is locally extinct in Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

. The Spadefoot lives in the Israeli coastal plain

Israeli Coastal Plain

The Israeli coastal plain is the narrow coastal plain along Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast which houses 70% of the country's population. The plain extends north to south and is divided into a number of areas; the Plain of Zebulun , Hof HaCarmel , the Sharon plain , and the Plain of Judea The...

s, north of Holon and Ashdod. Only a few hundred adult toads remain in Israel due to splitting of habitats and the species' loyalty to their spawning spots. The Spadefoot is a protected species by law.

The Banded Newt

Banded Newt

The Southern Banded Newt is a species of salamander in the Salamandridae family.It is found in Armenia, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Russian Federation, Syria, Turkey, and possibly Palestinian Territory, Occupied....

(Triturus vittatus vittatus) lives mainly in the northern areas of Israel, especially in the Galilee

Galilee

Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...

area, mostly in vernal pool

Vernal pool

Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are temporary pools of water. They are usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe development of natal amphibian and insect species...

s. The coastal shores near Ashkelon

Ashkelon

Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...

are the southern border for its global population. Small populations in more southern areas disappeared due to water contamination. They are inactive during the summer, staying underground in estivation

Estivation

Aestivation is a state of animal dormancy, characterized by inactivity and a lowered metabolic rate, that is entered in response to high temperatures and arid conditions...

, and even in winter they are only active at night. The newts have slightly different breeding season

Breeding season

The breeding season is the most suitable season, usually with favourable conditions and abundant food and water, for breeding among some wild animals and birds . Species with a breeding season have naturally evolved to have sexual intercourse during a certain time of year in order to achieve the...

s depending on location, ranging from January–February in the coastal plains to February–March in the Galilee. The banded newt is critically endangered in Israel (only 5% of the 1950s population remains) and is thus a protected species.

Fire Salamander

Fire Salamander

The fire salamander is probably the best-known salamander species in Europe. It is black with yellow spots or stripes to a varying degree; some specimens can be nearly completely black while on others the yellow is dominant. Shades of red and orange may sometimes appear, either replacing or mixing...

s (Salamandra salamandra salamandra or S. s. infraimmacullata) reside near the Mediterranean shores and are the least widespread of the amphibians of Israel. The salamanders have three distinct populations (in Tel Dan, Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel ; , Kármēlos; , Kurmul or جبل مار إلياس Jabal Mar Elyas 'Mount Saint Elias') is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...

and the Galilee). Compared to European populations, the adults have especially long legs and fingers and a more rounded head. The local populations differ in size (Tel Dan salamanders are much smaller), arrangement of spots on the skin and colour (ranging from orange

Orange (colour)

The colour orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum at a wavelength of about 585–620 nm, and has a hue of 30° in HSV colour space. It is numerically halfway between red and yellow in a gamma-compressed RGB colour space, the expression of which is the RGB colour wheel. The...

to yellow

Yellow

Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...

), in mating habits and times, as well as activity times (Tel Dan salamanders are active throughout most of the year because of their proximity to water). The populations are relatively stable. Nevertheless, they are an endangered species in Israel and one of the three amphibians to be a protected species.

Marsh Frog

Marsh Frog

The Marsh Frog is the largest frog native to Europe and belongs to the family of true frogs. It is very similar in appearance to the closely related Edible Frog and Pool Frog...

s (Rana ridibunda or Pelophylax ridibundus) live almost exclusively near stable water pools or winter pools, mainly in north and central Israel. The frogs are active even during the summer and sometimes during the day. The frogs are lighter and slightly smaller than in other countries.

Hyla savignyi

Hyla savignyi

(also Hyla arborea or "Tree Frog") is the most abundant amphibian in Israel, though its available breeding sites have decreased and it is considered "vulnerable." Populations reside in the Northern Negev

Negev

The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...

and north of it, though they once reached as far as the Dead sea

Dead Sea

The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...

. The population is estimated at a few thousands.

Fish

Israel is currently home to about 1,728 species of fish, 410 of which in the Mediterranean and 1,270 in the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

. The rest are cultivated or wild freshwater fish. The fish population has decline drastically and endemic species such as the Yarkon bleak

Acanthobrama telavivensis

Acanthobrama telavivensis, the Yarkon bleak, is a species of ray-finned fish in the Cyprinidae family.It is found only in Israel.Its natural habitat is rivers.It is threatened by habitat loss....

and Nemacheilus dori

Nemacheilus dori

Nemacheilus dori is a species of ray-finned fish in the Balitoridae family.It is found only in Israel.Its natural habitat is rivers.It is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:* Goren, M. 2005. . Downloaded on 19 July 2007....

have become endangered. Acanthobrama hulensis

Acanthobrama hulensis

Acanthobrama hulensis was a species of ray-finned fish in the Cyprinidae family.Its natural habitats were swamps and freshwater lakes in Lake Hula in northern Israel. Acanthobrama hulensis looked much like a sardine...

became extinct in the 1970s following a decline in population after the drying of the Hula lake.

Birds

Since Israel is on a widely-travelled path from Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

and Western Asia to Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

and vice-versa, birds can be seen in Israel in great numbers. However the number of raptors

Bird of prey

Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....

has been decreasing greatly due to its prey becoming endangered or extinct as well as massive poisoning of some prey. There are roughly 511 species of bird in Israel in different season

Season

A season is a division of the year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight.Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of revolution...

s. About a fifth of the nesting birds are endangered (39 out of 206).

Invertebrates

Israel has about 30,000 invertebrates, of which about 22,500 are insects and 3,900 are non-insect arthropods.
Among the invertebrates there is a wide variety of molluscs, of which about 230 are terrestrial, 850 are of the Mediterranean and 1,120 are of the Red Sea

Red Sea

. The insects of Israel belong to various ecological zones, but mainly to the Mediterranean. There are insects belonging to roughly 27 order

Order (biology)

s in Israel, out of about 29 worldwide.

Invasive species

Israel contains many invasive species

Invasive species

"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

brought by man, including scores of molluscs which usually live around gardens and greenhouses but also in natural habitats of native molluscs. As of 2008, over 220 species of invasive insects have been identified, some of them considered pests. The situation is little better with vertebrates, as a 2004 report reported that there are two mammalian invasive species (the Coypu

Coypu

The coypu , , also known as the river rat, and nutria, is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent and the only member of the family Myocastoridae. Originally native to subtropical and temperate South America, it has since been introduced to North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, primarily by...

and Indian palm squirrel), one fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

species (mosquito fish), two reptilian species (the Red-eared pond slider

Trachemys scripta

Trachemys scripta, better known as the pond slider, is a common, medium-sized semi-aquatic turtle. There are three subspecies of sliders. The most recognizable subspecies is the red-eared slider , which is popular in the pet trade. This subspecies has been introduced to other parts of the world...

and the Roughtail gecko

Cyrtopodion scabrum

Rough-tailed Gecko Cyrtopodion scabrum is a species of gecko.-Distribution:Turkey, Egypt [Siwa Oasis: HR 31: 254], Sinai/Tor, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman,...

) as well as 18 bird species. There are no amphibian invasive species, most likely due to the fact there are no suitable habitats for such.

Flora

There are 2,867 known species of plants found in Israel. Of these, at least 253 species are introduced and non-native. The coastal plain

Israeli Coastal Plain

and Sharon

Sharon

Sharon can be a female name which can be spelled with one "r" or two . It also refers to several places in the world.It derives from a Israelite place name meaning "forest" in Hebrew, referring to a fertile plain near the coast of Israel. This gives its name to a type of flowering shrub, the rose...

regions are especially rich in endemic species.

Fauna

Mammals

Reptiles

Amphibians

Fish

Birds

Invertebrates

Invasive species

Flora

See also