We sequenced part of the mitochondrial DNA control region of the extinct Arabian ostrich, Struthio camelus syriacus, to determine its phylogenetic relationship to the surviving subspecies, and to provide genetic information pertinent to the reintroduction of contemporary ostrich into Saudi Arabia. Parsimony, neighbour joining, maximum likelihood and a minimum spanning network all supported a close genetic association between the Arabian S. c. syriacus and the north African S. c. camelus. Furthermore, all our analyses suggest a recent common ancestry for the southern African S. c. australis and the east African S. c. massaicus. The Somali race, S. c. molybdophanes, was phylogenetically the most distinct of the ostrich taxa. Our data are supportive of a management decision to introduce S. c. camelus into areas once occupied by the extinct S. c. syriacus based predominantly on their geographic proximity and phenotypic features. Moreover, the presence of a shared lineage in these taxa indicates that gene flow between the two geographic forms may have been possible in the recent evolutionary past, probably along the Egyptian–Sinai–Israel passageway.