English Edition        النسخة العربية

Wildlife

By: Professor Ali Saad

Sudan occupies 2,505,813 square kilometers of territory and is Africa's largest country .It extends roughly 18^o of latitude i.e. 4^o south to 22^o north. Four ecological regions may be defined depending on the amount of annual rainfall received. North Sudan receives scanty rains and is mostly desert and semi-desert .The River Nile crosses the whole length of northern Sudan. The amount of rainfall increases gradually as we move to the savannah, rich savannah and the forest regions.

Sudan is enjoying diverse populations of wild animals.The wild fauna are divided in respective order following the geographical status of the country’s ecological divisions              

1-In the desert  and semi-desert there had been good numbers of dercas gazelle , schimmatter , eared Oryx , addax ,dama gazelle and small mammals like rabbits. In certain areas like the Sabaloka Game Reserve, on the western side of the Nile there had been the wild sheep that are considered as extinct now.  

2.In the savannah belt there is rich diversity of wildlife species though they suffered noticeable decreases in their population sizes Wildlife of the savannah belt of the Sudan include  large antelopes like  roan antelopes, tiang , waterbuck reedbuck and bushbuck. Here also are considerable numbers of buffaloes. Savannah animals also include giraffe, olive baboon, grivet monkey, red hasser monkey, colobus monkey, kob, lion, hyenas, foxes, jackals and small wild cats. Many bird species are found in the savannah such a Storks, herons, waterfowl, bustard, quails, francolin, guineafowl and love birds. Here also lives the largest bird on earth: the ostrich.

3. In the south where rainfall is the highest in the country, there had been large numbers of different antelopes and gazelles such as eland, bongo, hartebeest, wildebeest, white eared kob and Oryx. There had been also good population of elephants and rhinoceros .In the river Nile there are the hippopotamus and the Nile crocodile. The population and diversity of wildlife in southern Sudan has undergone great reductions because of long lasting unrest. 

     Sudan is bounded by mountains on its eastern, western and southern borders. In the Red Sea hills of eastern Sudan live the Nubian ibex and klipspringer. In Jebel Marrah and Nuba mountains lives the kudu.  

 Wildlife status

The present wildlife conservation status is considered unsatisfactory. Many factors have contributed to this result. There is lack of awareness on the importance of wildlife as a national wealth that should receive the attention it deserves through conservation and promotion of its numbers. The public, because of lack of extension services, is not cooperative in implementing plans that are set by game authorities to conserve wildlife. Thus there are many ill- practices that endangered wildlife conservation including poaching practices for meat production, encroachment of mechanized agriculture on the buffer zone of wildlife in the reserved areas and illegal invasion of the wildlife habitat by livestock owners who seek to graze their herds on pastures in areas reserved for wildlife. Some violations have also been recorded for individuals from neighboring human settlements who illegally enter game areas to collect honey and practice fishing in waterholes. These illegal practices have resulted from the absence of sound land-use polices and firm enforcement for the existing laws of game conservation. The consequences of wildlife mismanagement abhor. Many wild animals like the leopard, cheetah, the giraffe and Sommering Gazelle have disappeared. Many other animals are waiting their turn to join the extinction list and are considered endangered such as schimmatter, eared Oryx, addax, dama gazelle, the tiang and many other species.

       The current wildlife status of the Sudan is pitiful. However it is hoped that with the end of unrest in southern Sudan and dominance of peace funds and efforts shall be devoted to rehabilitate wildlife in southern Sudan and elsewhere in he Sudan.

References

http://www.kbinirsnb.be/cb/antelopes/National%20Reports/report%20sudan.pdf.
Darling, F.F. 1961. Towards a game policy for the report to the government of  Sudan. Memo

Dorst J. and Dandelot, P. 1970. Field guide to the Larger mammals of Africa. Collins

Happold, D.C.C. 1966. Future of  Wildlife in Sudan Oryx 8: 1-14.

Hashim, I.M. 1995. Abundance and distribution of threatened species in the deserteco-system of northern Sudan. Gnusletter 14: 8-10.

Report of the joint mission to Wadi-Hawar proposed natural protected area, 1998,by Sudanese national MAB committee, in collaboration with UNESCO-CairoOffice and ACACIA project.

El amin, H. M. (1990). Trees and Shrubs of Sudan. Ithaca press, Biddles Ltd.Guildford and Kings Lynn, England.

 Hakim, S. A., Nimer M. B., Hashim M. I., Osman E. A. (1978). RadomPotential National Park. Annual report. Wildlife Research Center, Khartoum, Sudan.

 Harrison, M. N. and J. K. Jackson. (1958). Ecological Classification of theVegetation of Sudan. Agric. Pub 1. Comm. Minist. Of Agric.Forest Dept. Forest Bu. 11. No. 2. Khartoum, Sudan.

 John, G. William (1986). Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern Africa. ISBN0002191792.

 Direct interview, (2002). Researcher direct interview. - Mr. Field (1975). Wildlife World Fund (WWF) expert, Sudan Gov. Consultant report for Radom national Park. Khartoum. Sudan.

Nimir, M. B., Hashim, I. M., Hakim, S., (1976). Wild animals in southernwest Darfur (Arabic report). Wild animals Research Unit. Agric. Research cooperation. Khartoum, Sudan.

 Stank, V. J. (1976). The Pictorial Encyclopaedia of the Animal Kingdom. 12thEdition.

Thirakul, S., (1984) Manual of dendrology. Forest inventory and market demand survey project, Bahr el Ghazal and Centeral Regions, Sudan.

Tirba, A. K., (2001). Current Status of Radom National Park .A report to the Wildlife Conservation Administration. Khartoum, Sudan.

 WRC scientist panel (1976). Wildlife Research Center. annual report. Khartoum. Sudan.