The number of elephants in South Sudan has fallen sharply from 5,000 to less than 2,500 in the last 15 years, according to authorities.
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Patrick Oyet
21 Jun 2024 01:23PM(Updated: 21 Jun 2024 06:14PM)
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SOUTH SUDAN: The Nimule National Park is located near South Sudan’s border with Uganda.
Manned by a few poorly paid security officers, the borders between the East African neighbours are porous and poachers can easily cross with illegal products.
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Nimule is one of six national parks and more than 10 game reserves covering over 13 per cent of South Sudan’s terrain.
Many of the wildlife species living there are under threat, as poaching becomes increasingly common across the country.
Its government said there are concerns that elephants – commonly killed for ivory – could become extinct in the nation due to illegal wildlife trade.
The number of elephants has fallen sharply from 5,000 to less than 2,500 in the last 15 years, according to authorities.
“Elephant numbers have reduced; ostriches and giraffes (as well). Some animal species have gotten extinct, like rhinos,” said lieutenant general Khamis Adiang Ding, director general of South Sudan’s Wildlife Ministry.
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“They are vulnerable because of their meat and products such as ivory and tusks, which are for commercial purposes.”
WHY IS POACHING SO RAMPANT?
Authorities said many facing socio-economic challenges have turned to poaching amid a shortage of jobs and income.
“Poaching is caused by a lack of economic activity in the area, both here and in neighbouring Uganda – that is the most important thing we need to put into consideration,” said Mr Ambayo Justice, a wildlife awareness warden at Nimule.
South Sudan’s civil war, which raged between 2013 and 2018, led to the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, some of which are now used to kill elephants for their tusks.
The conflict also triggered an economic crisis, pushing wildlife protection further down the list of government priorities.
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At the national park, the number of posts for government troops that used to protect the animals has been greatly reduced due to a lack of funds to keep the game rangers in their jobs.
With scarce manpower and equipment, stopping the poachers is also dangerous work.
“Poaching activity is everywhere in the whole of South Sudan, it is uncontrolled. If you want to control very seriously, you may even die, (the poachers) will shoot you,” said Mr Egidio Oler Brown, the park’s director.
STRUGGLES TO COMBAT WILDLIFE TRADE
Authorities from both South Sudan and Uganda said they have stepped up efforts to tackle wildlife crimes more effectively, including reinforcing border security.
However, identifying suspicious activities is increasingly tricky as criminals become more sophisticated in smuggling and trafficking.
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“We have strengthened our security at the exit points,” said Ms Margaret Kasumba, manager of law enforcement and security at the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), a government agency that conserves, manages and regulates the nation’s wildlife.
“We are able to screen but they have become so sophisticated in terms of how they conceal the contraband.”
For example, Ivory is sometimes painted black and labelled as cow horns, or concealed as plastics for recycling.
To beat transboundary transit laws in East Africa, criminals do not tag or brand smuggled ivory from South Sudan. Instead, they sneak it out as old tires meant for retreading, old car batteries or hide them among logs and timbers.
A TRANSNATIONAL PROBLEM
Uganda is a key transit hub for wildlife trafficking. Experts said that despite the existence of legislation to protect wildlife and against organised crime in the country, implementation remains a challenge, mainly due to a lack of funding.
They added that illegal wildlife trade is not a problem unique to the region. Instead, such activities are a transnational issue with consumer demand – largely from Asia – driving unprecedented wildlife population declines.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a global non-governmental organisation, said that most – if not all – international criminal syndicates in transnational wildlife trade in Africa are either Vietnamese or Chinese.
“Since 2018, Vietnam has become the largest importer of illicit ivory, surpassing China. This is partly due to the issue of domestic ivory ban in China (that year),” said Ms Linh Nguyen, an investigator at the organisation.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority said it is aware of organised criminal networks involved in illegal wildlife trafficking from the nation to Vietnam, including one called the Viet Group.
Founded in northern Vietnam in the late 2000s, it allegedly started its operations in Africa with a view to sourcing wildlife and increasing its control of the illicit wildlife supply chain.
Once ivory from South Sudan is transported into Uganda, members of the group can gain access to it.
Vietnamese authorities said these members work with local suppliers in Mozambique and Uganda to get their hands on the illicit goods.
In 2019, Ugandan authorities arrested several Vietnamese nationals with ivory concealed in trucks that transport goods for export.
WILDLIFE CRIMES AFFECT TOURISM
The EIA, which investigates environmental crimes, said authorities need to do more than just seizing contraband to tackle wildlife poaching and trafficking.
“There has got to be follow-up investigation in the country where the goods are supposed to be sold, and where the goods came from,” said Mr Justin Gosling, a law enforcement and criminal justice consultant.
East Africa’s wildlife helps draw more than 5 million tourists every year to Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, providing jobs and contributing significantly to their gross domestic product.
Experts said South Sudan, with its pristine nature, stunning landscapes and rich biodiversity, has great potential for wildlife tourism too.
This can help boost the nation’s economy and its population, of which the United Nations estimate 80 per cent live below the absolute poverty line.
However, that would depend on the nation’s efforts to protect its wildlife and stamp out poaching, as fears of extinction for many species – including its elephants – hang in the balance.
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