Southern National Park

Southern National Park covers a very large block of woodland savanna in western South Sudan between the Sue and Ibba rivers, declared in 1939 and one of the biggest protected areas in Africa on paper. It held elephant, giraffe, buffalo, roan and hartebeest. Decades without management have left the wildlife heavily reduced and the park effectively unadministered, though aerial surveys have found animals surviving.

The landscape

• The woodland savanna - the habitat covering most of the park.
• The river country - the Sue and Ibba systems the park sits between.
• The scale - among the largest protected areas declared in Africa.
• The surviving wildlife - the animals aerial surveys have found remaining.

When to go

December to March is the dry season and the only practical window. The rains from April to November make the ground impassable. Wildlife concentrates near water in the dry.

Practical notes

There is no functioning management, no infrastructure and effectively no access arrangement. Wildlife has been very heavily reduced. Any travel here requires serious expedition planning and local arrangement.

Nearby

Wau is northeast, and the Sudd is east.

Key facts