The Arabian (Syrian) ostrich formerly ranged over Jordan, Israel/Palestine, southern Syria, south-western Iraq and north-western Saudi Arabia (perhaps Sinai), and in Syria west of the Euphrates around Al Mayadin and Abu Kamal. It became extinct in Syria and Arabia around 1966, possibly as early as 1939 per the latest reliable record; ostriches died out in Oman around 1930.
Approved version OWNER-REVIEW-20261028T182608328 · last approved 28 October 2026
A genetic lineage shared by the Arabian and North African ostriches suggests gene flow between them may have been possible in the recent evolutionary past, probably along the land passage from Egypt through Sinai to the southern Levant.
DNA analysis showed the Arabian ostrich was genetically close to the North African ostrich (S. c. camelus), which is therefore released in its former range as a biological substitute, though it is not the Arabian ostrich itself.
The Smithsonian account states that the Arabian ostrich became extinct in the 1960s. The 2024 OSME list gives an estimate around 1966, while noting possible extinction as early as 1939, which it considers the latest reliable record.
The 2024 OSME list reports reintroduction of the North African red-necked ostrich to Saudi Arabia as the Arabian ostrich's closest relative, with the effort centred on Imam Turki Royal Nature Reserve, about 575 km north-west of Riyadh, and a nest containing 12 eggs and three fledglings. The source does not resolve whether the nest record was from 2024 or 2023.
The Smithsonian account states that the Arabian ostrich became extinct in the 1960s and describes the living North African ostrich subspecies as critically endangered; this is the account's description of that subspecies.
