The daunting challenges facing wildlife service in South Sudan
By Kon Joseph Leek, Juba, South Sudan
April 25, 2016 (SSB) —- Apart from rank-commissioning saga which they share with Fire Brigade and Prison that they are now struggling to solve, there are many with wildlife of South Sudan than any other department of the ministry of interior that truly deserves it to be talked about, ranging from poor structures (old and almost warned out), to weak control of its amateur-corrupt junior officers. It is having its own weaknesses that make it outstanding
Being one of the sources of revenues to the government, it has never lived up to that. It has never sold a single animal to the outside world yet, not even a frog to China or a snake to Thailand or at least a slug to Korea, and it has hitherto not attracted a single tourist in 11 years
Apart from waiting for their salaries under neem trees taking tea in their ministry where I sometimes join them, their ministry could send groups to Kenya for wildlife training and keep them without deploying them in the fields of their professions upon their return and I enjoy seeing them bragging of who they are and what they do! Our wildlife has no animals’ doctors, not even an old one or inexperienced one ….and has no sanctuaries (Zoos), not even a bad one and they seemed not ready to get one any time soon
They caught monkeys and chimpanzees last year and are nowhere to be seen now. The department could not see their monkeys attracting tourists in those few days they had spent, so they ate them. Some of them told me that they might have been eaten by some of their bosses (the ape’s eaters) because they (apes) were noise makers and demanded a lot!
Thus, instead of requiring a lot of money for their maintenance, they (apes) were better eaten in order to save them (wildlife) with all those expenses! It (wild life service) is having its wildlife conservation led by certain outsider who is not doing the expectation(s) and is even little connected to the ministry. It has a public relations department that has never visited any media outlet for any sensitization or promotion apart from the media reports of wildlife crimes
They have bought some only-ivory-detective-dogs from South Africa, and have started training some smoke-loving dudes who are always warned of not smoking around the dogs else they confuse the sense of their smelling. These dudes are being trained in the way of letting the dogs search for ivory
They have also caught many poachers along Bor-Juba road whom they could still release thereafter leaving the wild meat behind on the cover of burning them (the meat) in the evening or sometimes later. The anti poaching unit knows the place where dry meat is sold in Bor, Mangala and Gemeiza but they have never tried to arrest them. They also have arrested several cars carrying wild meat but could release them if only that they could leave the wild meat behind to be burnt!
There is not a single time SS TV has been called by the wild life service to publicize the burning of wild meat just like the police does in case drugs, fake money etc are caught in the hands of criminals by the C.I.D. so, this simply makes me doubt if they really burns them as they claim
Up to now, not even is a single soul taken to court to answer the questions of why they are poaching, may be in the past. Let’s give time o the new DG may be he will do amazing things
The wildlife ministry (department) was not created to save the meat but to save the animal(s)…, that is the reason why it is called wildlife – keep the wild alive! There is no way you can save the lives of the dead(s) because they are already dead anyway
According to the Deputy Director of South Sudan Relief rehabilitation Commission of Jonglei state James Jok Alier on Nation Mirror on 5th of April, 2016 as sourced from Gurtong, said that, ‘majority of people in Jonglei are surviving on wild meat, if those animals are not there then those who are depending on wild meat will be totally severely food’.
No relief according to the Director, the only relieves are the wild animals. And in the state of almost 400,000 people, and “majority” are surviving on wild animals according to the Director’s statement, then our wild animals are at risk of being consumed all. Our South Sudan’s wildlife service should be alarmed by that statement
The Director’s statement, though downplayed by Mamer Ruk, the commissioner of Bor (Jonglei State’s H/Q) that his office did not get such report, it was supported by another poacher, Mayom Alith Leek that, ‘nobody can prevent us, poaching has been there since our fathers and grand fathers’ time, so who are they to prevent us’. That was the poacher himself speaking. He said it while carrying the wild meat at his back as reported by Gurtong
Mayomdit is not even aware that this is neither his father’s nor his grandfather’s time, it is his time and in his times, there are strict laws that governs the people to do anything mischievous, it is only that we are sleeping to have you and your kinds arrested for poaching
So, what is the role of Jonglei’s wildlife’s department? Clad in uniforms in the morning and goes to their department for parade? Nothing else! They are not doing anything at all because the likes of Mayom Alith are whom they could have stopped
The author is a commentator on contemporary issues and is reachable on j.konleek@gmail.com
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