· 3 min read
illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Wall Street Journal or enjoy below:
🗞️ Driving the news: A groundbreaking Wall Street Journal report on September 6, 2025, showcases the Great Nile Migration — a mass movement of approximately six million antelope across remote regions of South Sudan and into Ethiopia
• The footage, captured via aerial platforms, reveals a natural spectacle seen by very few outsiders
🔭 The context: This migration spans the Boma‑Badingilo landscape, one of the largest continuous tracts of wilderness on Earth, covering around 122,774 km² (comparable in size to Greece)
• The phenomenon encompasses four species: roughly five million white‑eared kob, plus tiang, Mongalla gazelle, and bohor reedbuck
• Prior surveys in 2007 estimated only 1.3 million; the recent count reflects both improved methodology and perhaps a resurgence—or better detection—of the herds
🌍 Why it matters for the planet: This migration is now recognized as the largest land mammal migration on Earth, overshadowing the Serengeti's famed wildebeest migration of approximately two million
• It offers a rare window into intact migratory ecosystems under threat from poaching, infrastructure expansion, and political instability—but also a profound opportunity to align conservation, community development, and future ecotourism
⏭️ What’s next: Broad-based conservation strategy is urgent. African Parks and government officials are exploring community‑based land conservancies and aiming to integrate wildlife protection with economic development
• South Sudan faces pressing challenges: widespread poaching, underfunded park management, and limited law enforcement in a post‑conflict setting
• There is emerging—and fragile—potential for high‑end ecotourism, contingent on improved safety and infrastructure
💬 One quote: “The migration in South Sudan blows any other migration we know of out the water,” said David Simpson, African Parks’ park manager overseeing Boma and Badingilo
📈 One stat: 6 million antelope comprise the world’s largest land mammal migration—more than double the number of animals involved in the Serengeti’s
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