South Sudan Animal/Wildlife Migration, Boma and Bandingilo National Park Travel Guide
South Sudan is host to the world’s Second Largest Animal Migration after the Great Migration of wildebeests between Tanzania and Kenya. This takes place from January to June when at least half a million antelopes converge on a vast savannah east of the White Nile, moving from the floodplains of the Sudd and Bandingilo National Park across to Boma National Park and into Gambella National Park in Ethiopia. This mass movement of tiang and white-eared kob is Africa’s second-largest terrestrial wildlife migration, second only to the Serengeti’s teeming masses of wildebeest.
Watching the World’s Second Largest Animal Migration in South Sudan will allow you to also see various endangered mammalian species, especially antelopes such as the endangered Nile lechwe, tiang, Mongalla gazelle, and the world’s largest population of white-eared kob. You will also have an opportunity to visit local communities within these environments and see the beautiful landscapes, and birds.
During South Sudan’s long war for independence from Khartoum, no one could be sure whether this migration would still happen. But after the fighting ended, surveys showed that vast herds had somehow survived – and the antelopes are still traveling the same routes they had used for millennia.
South Sudan shows that one of the largest mammal migrations on earth, the white-eared kob and tiang migration, continues, apparently oblivious to the decades-long civil conflict. Numbers are sketchy for obvious reasons, but around 1 million white-eared kob, 200 000 tiang (a close relative of the topi), and a smattering of Mongalla gazelles (possibly a subspecies of the Thomson’s gazelle) continue their annual migrations.
When not on the move, white-eared kob live in much smaller groups and visit the same feeding and breeding grounds again and again. Males gather in numbers of 15 to 20 at permanent breeding sites known as leks. There each male establishes his own, smaller territory and patrols its borders to hold his ground against competitors. Larger female herds visit the leks to choose mates from among the males. Those males able to hold prime positions in the center of the larger, circular group lek tend to have the most success.
Between January and June, the kob, tiang, and gazelle move north and east from the wetlands on the eastern bank of the White Nile towards Boma National Park and Gambella National Park just across the border in Ethiopia. They return to Boma National Park and the vast inland delta known as the Sudd between November and January. The delta is the biggest in Africa and, in the wet season, may extend to 130,000 square km. It is home to 400 bird species and, in addition to the kob, tiang, and gazelle is a refuge for the endangered Nile lechwe. Fifty years ago, there were 80,000 elephants in the region; now, there are probably fewer than 2,000.
After the wildebeest migration of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, these herds of white-eared kob, tiang, and associated other species, are the largest concentrations of large mammals left on the planet. That this is one of the wonders of the world is indisputable. It has survived the long, persistent, armed conflict within South Sudan. The animals move across this whole landscape seasonally. Currently, the only pressure on the corridor is hunting by local people and armed forces.
The 200,000-square-kilometer Boma-Jonglei landscape in South Sudan is the largest, substantially intact wildlife habitat in East Africa. In addition to animals, the region includes high-altitude plateaus, wooded and grassland savannas, and wetlands. It has the potential to rival the famed Serengeti of Tanzania.
The landscape of South Sudan turns a verdant green under the annual rains, beginning one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on Earth. At least one million antelopes converge on a vast savannah east of the White Nile.
This mass movement of two species - the tiang and the white-eared kob – rivals the wildebeest herds of the Serengeti as the biggest migration of land animals in the world.
The Seasonal Migration:
The Sudd wetlands of southern Sudan, nourished by the White Nile, are home to an astounding number of white-eared kob—hundreds of thousands of animals. When joined by tiang antelopes and Mongalla gazelles they form enormous migrating herds of more than 1.2 million individuals. Thickly packed columns of these animals in motion can stretch a staggering 50 miles long and 30 miles across. Such herds rival the Serengeti’s teeming masses of wildebeests for the title of the world’s most massive—and awe-inspiring—mammal migration.
The dry season finds the Sudd’s white-eared kob in the northern part of their North Dakota-size range, which occupies a critical ecological niche between Africa’s lush tropical forests and its arid Sahara sands. There the animals gather in herds to graze low-lying meadows with access to permanent water. But wet season means a move en masse to the south, as far as 930 miles, as the kob chase nutritious short grasses and seek lands less susceptible to flooding.
This is one of the great wonders of the world. This country’s wildlife feature is one of those special features of South Sudan that still arouses some hope.
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