Tiang in Boma and Badingilo National Parks, South Sudan © Marcus Westberg.
📍 Where the Migration Happens
The migration takes place primarily across Boma and Badingilo National Parks, the Sudd wetlands, and even extends into Gambella in western Ethiopia. The antelope herds travel in a circular pattern following seasonal rainfall between wet and dry grazing grounds.
Discovered through a recent aerial survey conducted by African Parks, this astonishing phenomenon has now been recognized as one of the largest land mammal migrations on Earth.
“The results of this survey are nothing short of staggering,” said Peter Fearnhead, CEO of African Parks. “The astonishing scale of the migration is only equalled by the responsibility to ensure that it survives into the future in an extremely complex landscape.”
African Parks aerial survey: Tiang in Boma and Badingilo National Parks, South Sudan © Marcus Westberg
Lechwe in Boma and Badingilo National Parks, South Sudan © Marcus Westberg
🦓 What Species Are Involved?
This natural spectacle features four key species:
- White-eared kob
- Mongalla gazelle
- Tiang (a subspecies of topi)
- Reedbuck
In addition to antelope, the survey recorded populations of elephants, giraffes, lions, and buffalo, painting a picture of a thriving, biodiverse ecosystem.
✈️ Aerial Survey: Covering the Sky and the Story
From April 28 to May 15, 2023, African Parks deployed two aircraft equipped with high-resolution cameras that captured images every two seconds. The team covered 122,774 square kilometers — an area the size of Greece — to map the full extent of antelope movement in the Boma-Badingilo-Jonglei landscape.
The survey also extended into previously undocumented regions, reinforcing the vast scale and resilience of the migration.
Elephant in Boma and Badingilo National Parks, South Sudan © Marcus Westberg
Giraffe in Boma and Badingilo National Parks, South Sudan © Marcus Westberg
“Seeing these animals here at such scale is something I could have never fathomed still existed on the planet,” said Mike Fay, African Parks’ landscape coordinator for Boma and Badingilo. “From the air, it felt like I was watching what Earth might have been like millennia ago when nature and humans still existed together in balance.”
🌍 Remarkable Resilience
Despite decades of civil war in South Sudan, the migration remained largely untouched — a testament to the enduring relationship between wildlife and the people of this landscape. With the support of African Parks and local communities, the region holds enormous promise for conservation, tourism and ecological research.
African Parks: Guardians of Wild Spaces
African Parks manages 23 protected areas in 13 countries throughout Africa. The NGO has been highly effective in reducing and often stopping poaching in the parks and protected areas it manages. Success stories include:
🦁 Akagera National Park, Rwanda: African Parks restored the park’s security infrastructure, reducing poaching incidents to near zero. The reintroduction of lions and rhinos highlights their success.
🐘 Zakouma National Park, Chad: Once a poaching hotspot, Zakouma is now a thriving haven for elephants and other wildlife, with poaching of elephants reduced to nearly zero.
🐆 Liuwa Plain National Park, Zambia: Effective anti-poaching measures have supported the recovery of key species like lions and cheetahs.
In Boma and Badingilo, their efforts could place South Sudan’s Great Nile Migration at the forefront of global wildlife conservation awareness.