( eland in Southern National Park. “Thi...)Massive herds of animals found to still exist in Southern Sudan

Many non-migratory wildlife species on the east side of the Nile were also significantly reduced. “We did not observe a single zebra during the systematic survey in Boma, where 29,000 were seen in the early ’80s,” said Elkan. During complementary reconnaissance surveys in late May, Elkan, WCS pilot Falk Grossman and Jamus Joseph, assistant director of the WCS Southern Sudan Country Program, did finally sight a group of three zebra moving with the white-eared kob migration in Boma National Park. The team also identified a key zone of semi-arid habitat supporting several species, which will be proposed as a new protected area. (OVER)

In an effort to protect this newly discovered natural resource, WCS has signed cooperation agreements with both GoSS and its Ministry of Environment, Wildlife Conservation, and Tourism to launch a conservation strategy that will safeguard the region’s wildlife and wild lands, which may now rank among the richest in Africa. The plan would include the integration of several thousand ex-combatants from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army into wildlife services, help establish and manage official networks of national parks and other protected areas and integrate conservation principles into the management of landscapes, which will develop approaches in partnership with traditional local communities and engage the private sector to employ sound environmental practices.

“Humanitarian and development NGOs are swarming into southern Sudan,” said Fay. “With all the relief being poured into the region for development and the resource industries moving in, we could actually see this precious wildlife resource, which has thrived under these difficult circumstances, disappear. Ironically, the silver lining
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Source:Wildlife Conservation Society