At least 50 wildlife rangers have completed an intensive two-month training program designed to strengthen efforts to combat poaching and protect wildlife in South Sudan’s Badingilo National Park.
The graduates, who make up the third batch of trainees, received instruction in wildlife management, law enforcement, tactical operations, weapons handling, discipline and field readiness.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony at Badingilo National Park on Tuesday, Gen. Khamis Adiang, Director General of Wildlife Service at the Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism, said the newly trained rangers would be deployed to the field to strengthen wildlife protection.
“I think we need competent people who can be deployed in the field and do the job. Maybe later, we will look into this issue of gender balance,” Adiang said.
He stated that the immediate priority was to have enough personnel on the ground to confront poaching and protect the country’s wildlife, while urging South Sudanese to take collective responsibility for conservation.
“The future of wildlife in South Sudan is determined by you and me. I mean if we come together. Because the responsibility of conservation is a collective responsibility of everybody in South Sudan. It is not only wildlife,” he said.
John Vorgal, Badingilo Park Manager, urged the graduates to carry out their duties with courage, discipline and respect for human rights, warning that they face growing threats from commercial bush-meat trade and wildlife trafficking.
“We expect you to be courageous when courage is required but also restrained when restraint is required. We expect you to protect wildlife,” he stated.
“But we also expect you to respect human rights and uphold the law. And above all, we expect you to serve with integrity.”
One of the graduates, William O. Konga, said he joined the Wildlife Service to help curb poaching in the Lafon community.
He noted that rangers should engage communities on sustainable hunting practices while discouraging excessive killing of wildlife.
Badingilo National Park, located in Central Equatoria State east of Juba, is one of South Sudan’s key conservation areas.
The park is renowned for its vast grasslands and diverse wildlife, including the white-eared kob, elephants, giraffes, antelopes and buffalo.
The park hosts one of Africa’s largest mammal migrations, making the protection of its wildlife and habitat important to South Sudan’s conservation and tourism ambitions.
