Sunday, March 27, 2011

Wouldn't That Be Wild?

A recent National Geographic aerial survey of the eastern regions of South Sudan discovered vast herds of wild animals.  The researchers were stunned by what they saw.  Nearly everyone had assumed that wildlife was nearly eliminated in S. Sudan during the four decades of war.  Since 1983 displaced peoples and soldiers, hungry and on the move, regularly killed and ate elephant, giraffe, buffalo and other animals simply to stay alive.  "We had thought all the large herds were gone."  To the contrary, their photos prove that the wildlife remaining in Sudan will rival the fabled herds of the Serengeti.  We can only hope that the new government of South Sudan will soon establish extensive game preserves to give sanctuary to these animals and to enable a tourism industry to develop as well.  As Henry David Thoreau once wrote, "I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness...."

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