Tracking Millions of Animals Through South Sudan’s Conflict Zones
In 2022, African Parks signed a 10-year deal with the South Sudanese government to manage two massive wild and protected areas: Boma and Badingilo National Parks. Together, the parks cover over 2 million hectares. That makes the protected area larger than New Jersey. Almost nobody knew what was really living there because the area had been long off the radar due to decades of conflict and unrest, lack of infrastructure, and kilometres of untouched land.
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As a result, in 2023 (the following year), African Parks committed to a massive collaring operation. This involved putting GPS collars on a range of species across the parks, then following up with aerial surveys. The results of which were incredible!
They found that South Sudan is home to the largest land mammal migration on Earth, where around 6 million antelope, mostly white-eared kob, tiang, and Mongalla gazelle, migrate north and east after the rains, heading toward Gambella National Park in Ethiopia. Yes, it’s even bigger than the wildebeest migration in the Serengeti.
Ecologist and conservationist J. Michael Fay describes it as being “like a quantum leap from anything else, not just on this continent, but worldwide.”
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Yet, despite being such a recent discovery, this entire ecosystem is already under threat. As people return, farmland expands, and development begins to reach these remote landscapes, the migration and the wild systems that support it could disappear within a decade.
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That’s why African Parks is doing more than just tracking animals. They’re building a long-term strategy to protect this migration, not in isolation, but with the full participation of the people who live alongside it.
The Good news is that locals have already embraced the initiatives. Local chieftain of a significant area explains, “They said if we take care of the animals, they will take care of us.”
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Many of the South Sudanese people didn’t even realise the scale of the wildlife they shared their land with until now, and they couldn’t be any prouder. Rangers are being trained, conservation education is spreading, and people are stepping into leadership roles and advocating for the protection of the land, not just because it’s beautiful, but because it’s part of who they are.
A result of the locals embracing nature has been major success in the field. They’re finding Nubian giraffes, elephants, lions, and cheetahs, some of these species thought to be long gone from the area. They were there all along, surviving quietly in the background, waiting for someone to notice.
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This has been more than a breakthrough in the field of conservation. It is a rare second chance to protect something newly discovered, deeply wild, and globally significant before it’s lost. And thanks to the people of South Sudan, who are stepping up to safeguard it, that chance might actually become a reality.