This is the world’s biggest animal migration—and few outsiders have seen it

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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