Forty poachers have been arrested and over 5,000 kg of bush meat seized from their possession, Rizik Zakaria said on Monday.
According to the Minister of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism, the arrested were smuggling bush meat from near the Badingilo national park.
The 70-sacks of bush meat were confiscated in four vehicles, including that of the Commissioner.
Minister Rizig Zacharia Hassan said the arrest is part of an anti-poaching campaign his ministry launched to protect wildlife species and animals.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, January 23, 2023, at the Ministry’s headquarters in Gumbo, Rizik said the suspects will soon be arraigned in court.
“The arrested suspect is more than 40 and they possess more than 70 sacks of meat, and that is about 200 animals, they were arrested during the campaign against poaching these days,” said Rizik.
“Two days ago, we confiscated 3 tons of bushmeat around Badingilo and Lafon and this is the third arrest we have made. These more than 40 suspects with their vehicles, we will take them to court.”
Lt. Gen. Khamis Adieng, the director general of the wildlife service said some of the arrested include members of organized forces.
He said the ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism will continue to hunt for poachers during the dry season.
“We have started the operation for the dry season, and it is going to continue by the way, as you can see from the arrest,” said Khamis.
“From the report it is a huge quantity of meat. But if you try to convert it to animals it is more than 100 heads of different species of animal which is considered to be a very big destruction to the South Sudan resources,
“This thing is unacceptable, and we are going to go ahead with all the legal procedures, it is now the court to differentiate between A and Z, but we are going ahead, there is no compromise, and we will not stop anything,
“Nobody will stop us because we are working according to the laws of the Republic of South Sudan.
“It is very unfortunate that the commissioner is convicted [a suspect] among the others, but it is now the court that will differentiate between the constitutional post holder and the other suspects. Some of the suspects are from the organized forces, some of them are from the SSPDF.”
The Operation Commander of wildlife service, Col. John Adheiu said his team confiscated the vehicles carrying the bush meat – including that of Lafon County Commissioner – in three days.
“I have confiscated these four vehicles on Friday and Saturday, and then the car of Hon. Commissioner on Sunday which is yesterday. It is true, we found all these vehicles full loaded with meat, 70-sack of meat, and that is 5 tons.” said Col. Adiew.
South Sudan has been experiencing poaching in some of the national parks in the country.
The government has on several occasions warned people against killing wild animals.
Just last week, wildlife wardens arrested eleven people in possession of 3,000 kilograms of bush meat in Central Equatoria State.
The minister of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism, Rizig Zachariah Hassan said the suspects whom he termed as agents were apprehended between Mangala – Bandingilo National Park while transporting the meat in Toyota land-cruisers.
He estimated that the confiscated meat could be from at least 110 wild animals – including dozens of antelopes.
South Sudan has six national parks and more than 10 game reserves covering more than 13 percent of the country’s terrain.
The country has more than 300 mammal species and boasts one of Africa’s greatest annual antelope migrations.