Objective To examine the effect of pretreatment with Alhagi extract on the survival rate of rats in a dry-heat environment. Methods Fifty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 5 groups of 10 rats each: the normal control group (NC group), solvent control group (SC group), Alhagi low-dose group (AL group), Alhagi middledose group (AM group), and Alhagi high-dose group (AH group). Rats in the SC group underwent gavage of 0. 5% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose solution once a day. Rats in the other Alhagi extract pretreatment groups underwent gavage with different doses of Alhagi extract (1. 00, 0. 33, and 0. 10 g/ kg, respectively) once a day for 7 consecutive days and were then placed in the experimental cabin (dry-heat environment). The temperature was(41±0. 5)℃, and the relative humidity was(10±1)%. The core temperature, body weight, and time of death were recorded at 0, 50, 100, and 150 min. Results During the Alhagi administration period, no significant differences in the daily body weight changes were found in each group ( P >0. 05). After exposure to the dry-heat environment for 50, 100, and 150 min, the core body temperature of rats in the AM and AH groups was significantly lower than that of rats in the NC and SC groups ( P <0. 05); however, no significant difference in the weight reduction rates was found among the groups ( P >0. 05). In the dry-heat environment, the survival time of rats in the AM group (242. 15±12. 72 min) and AH group (244. 90±12. 68 min) was significantly longer than that of rats in the NC group (225. 90±10. 32 min), SC group (228. 22±7. 59 min), and AL group (227. 90± 12. 25 min) ( P <0. 05). The survival curves were tested by the log rank method, which indicated that the survival rates of rats in the AM and AH groups were significantly higher than that of rats in the NC, SC, and AL groups ( P <0. 05). Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that pretreatment with Alhagi extract can increase the thermotolerance and survival rate of rats in a dry-heat environment. This may occur through a delay in the increase of the core temperature; however, the exact mechanisms need to be further explored.