In 2005, after 22 years of civil war in Sudan the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed, putting an end to Africa’s longest running conflict.
South Sudan emerged as an independent country.
Throughout the period of war, effective management of the country’s protected areas was essentially non-existent and the human, physical, institutional, and systemic infrastructure was largely destroyed.
Data on wildlife numbers and habitat use in South Sudan is still limited and was until recently based on an aerial survey that was performed in 2016. Critical wildlife species are at risk, and uncontrolled and unsustainable hunting has caused the local eradication of, among other species, giraffe in large parts of the country.
The Boma and Badingilo National Parks were reported to historically host over 9,000 Nubian giraffe. Today, they are estimated to have declined to only a few hundred individuals, however, their numbers and distribution are largely unknown. African Parks now co-manages these parks on behalf the South Sudanese Government. Gaining a better understanding of wildlife numbers and habitat use is important for improving the management and protection of these parks.
A large scale tagging mission of a host of wildlife species was undertaken in 2023 and 2024. Priority species included white-eared kob, African savanna elephant, tiang, African lion, Mongalla gazelle, and Nubian giraffe. GCF supported both missions by providing veterinary support as well as tracking devises. The 2023 mission was the first ever tagging of giraffe in South Sudan.
The 2023 tagging operation yielded valuable movement data for multiple species and highlighted that the migratory species’ (Mongalla gazelle, Bohor reedbuck, white-eared kob and tiang) movements are heavily influenced by the wildlife-human interface with the diverse communities that co-inhabit the landscape. Based on these initial results, the 2024 mission was extended across the larger White Nile Migration Landscape, which includes the Boma and Badingilo National Parks (~30% of the total landscape).
Nubian giraffe remain a key species in this landscape and GCF continues to support their monitoring.
