Poachers dismembering a dead animal in Akobo County, Jonglei State. | Courtesy.

The wildlife authorities in Western Bahr el Ghazal are searching for a suspected poacher, who killed seven female deer in the outskirts of Lol town on Thursday. 

The unnamed fugitive, who is currently at large, has been identified as a member of the organized forces.

The State Director of Anti-poaching, Lieutenant Colonel Amto Pasifico, described the incident as a great loss to the country.

“This is a great loss for us in the country, and one of the biggest difficulties face by wildlife authorities, is that most of the poaching is carried out by members of the organize  forces,” said Colonel Amto.

According to him, soldiers there are killing wild animals under the watch of their commanders – in what he termed as the biggest challenge the sector is facing.

In May this year, several wild animals were gunned down by three poachers in the forests of Akobo County in Jonglei state.

Shocking photos of the animal massacre surfaced online, and depicted three armed men beside dead wild animals including an Elephant, a giraffe, and a buffalo.

Following the incident, the Minister of Wildlife and Tourism Rezik Zechariah Hassan and the SPLM-IO leadership, launched an investigation into the matter.

So far, the outcome of the investigation has been made public.

Meanwhile, Colonel Pasifico, who spoke to the state-owned television SSBC, said the practice of poaching has continued, even after they forwarded the matter to military commanders a number of times.

“They are from the regular forces, and we always inform the leaders of the organize forces, but the hunting does not stop, and all those arrested are from the soldiers,” he said.

South Sudan has six national parks and 13 game reserves with 300 mammal species, in an area of more than 13 percent of the country’s terrain.

However, the country’s wildlife is dwindling because of rampant poaching in the country.

Conservationists say, since the start of the 2013 conflict, there has been an increased killing and trafficking of wildlife by armed actors including the government and opposition forces as well as armed civilians.

For his part his part, the Director of Wildlife Conservation in the state, Major General, Mou Wai Yol said the soldier, once arrested, will face the court of law.

“I ask the old and young people to preserve the animals, especially the deer, which represents the state’s emblem. And I know that the one who carried out this behavior is a military man,

“Even though a soldier is not supposed to do this behavior  We will open a complaint and refer the offender to court  According to the law, anyone carrying meat is arrested for hunting wild animals.”

According to reports, most cultures in South Sudan see hunting as a mean of food, a situation that the Minister of Wildlife termed as ignorance and lack of public awareness on the economic importance of wild animals.