Antelope ripple across the landscape in South Sudan. From the air, they look like an antelope river!

And for the first time, people counted them from the sky. (At least, they did their best—only God can keep perfect count.) How many antelope loped by? Around six million! That makes their migration the biggest of any land mammal. They travel northeast through South Sudan to the Gambela region of Ethiopia and back again.

Counters spent two weeks in two national parks and nearby areas. They captured nearly 60,000 photos. They tracked more than a hundred collared antelopes over about 46,000 square miles. The country has four main antelope types: the white-eared kob, the tiang, the Mongalla gazelle, and the bohor reedbuck.

South Sudan is a troubled country in East Africa. Most people there are very poor. In the last decade, fighting in South Sudan killed nearly 400,000 people. The country’s people need wise leaders to help. They need good jobs. Some wonder: Could the huge migration draw tourists to South Sudan? Tourism means work for locals.

But there are a couple of big problems. First: South Sudan is a dangerous place to visit. Most tourists don’t want to travel to a place where violent gangs have control.

Second: People kill the antelope to eat and to sell. Years of flooding made crops fail.  Hungry people found a solution. They hunt antelope. Roads increased access to markets. That makes it easier to sell the meat. Poachers killed some 30,000 animals each month between March and May this year.

Pray that God will provide a way for people and antelope to live together well in South Sudan.

He knows everything. — 1 John 3:20