Urgent Project
Living Ancient Dreams : South Sudan ' s Great Antelope Migration
The great mammal migrations that no longer grace the Earth — with millions of pounding hooves and flapping wings — are now the stuff of legend . But they are not all lost for eternity .
In South Sudan in Central Africa , an antelope migration like no other is driving possibly millions of White-eared Kob , Tiang ( Topi ) antelopes , Mongalla Gazelles and Bohor Reedbucks across one of the last and most exceptional wild ecosystems left on Earth . These animals stream across the Sudd inland delta — a vast , nearly impenetrable swamp east of the White Nile River — running from rising waters to follow the grasses that sustain them . The Sudd stretches across 14 million acres to form one of Earth ’ s largest wetlands and the largest freshwater wetland in the Nile Basin . Its shimmering waters can double in size during the wet season .
One of the primary reasons this fertile landscape still exists for wildlife is because it is an inhospitable floodplain — it ’ s too hot , too rainy , or too flooded ( or all three ) for months every year , changing with the season and the amount of rainfall .
Just southeast of the Sudd , another vast landscape of 9.3 million acres is aptly named the Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape because it encompasses the Boma and Badingilo National Parks created before South Sudan ’ s independence in 2011 . The savanna , grassy floodplains and closed canopy forests here are shaped by seasonal flooding of tributaries of the White Nile River and by the very animals that feed on them .
Rainforest Trust is supporting our partner , African Parks , to work with the government of South Sudan to re-establish and expand the Boma and Badingilo national parks and designate unprotected savanna between them as Community Conservancies to safeguard 9,376,800 connected acres for this epic migration . The government is strongly supportive of the entire effort .
Ancient antelope migration stands the test of war
Civil wars have plagued the region since the 1950s , with South Sudan ’ s 2011 independence coming amidst decades of conflicts . Sadly , the war years led to the local extinction of zebras and rhinos in South Sudan . The African Savanna Elephant population in the Sudd delta dropped catastrophically from around 80,000 elephants 50 years ago to fewer than 2,000 today , downed mostly by trophy hunters and illegal ivory poachers . It would not have been surprising at all to discover that decades of armed conflict in the region had also decimated the antelope migration but somehow , thankfully , it endures .
The survival of this astounding migration is due in part to the fact that the antelopes and gazelles are animals on the move . Between January and June , they follow primeval routes north and east from wetlands to areas now protected as national parks , and then back again between November and January . The species that were more sedentary and accessible as food and funds for fighting groups suffered great losses .
22 tiang in boma and badingilo national parks | © marcus westberg / african parks