Last year wildlife experts working in South Sudan told of a re-discovery that caused a flurry of excitement and hope. Surveys in war-affected areas where animals were thought to have perished or disappeared were teeming with life. One of the world’s biggest migrations — that of the white eared kobs — was still flowing with some 800,000 animals thundering across the plains and swamps. “Many species have been greatly reduced. But this was good news and any good news is wonderful news after such a prolonged conflict” says Paul Elkan, the head of the South Sudan Country Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society , who took part in these first surveys for 25 years. For those who have even heard of South Sudan, the first images likely to come to mind are of AK-47-toting soldiers, six-foot tall women and even taller men, land mines and almost no development at all.
