Wildlife Unit reveals the extent of militia violations against 13 farms and reserves in Khartoum

By: Mona Al-Ahimer – The Citizen

Minister of Interior, Lieutenant General Khalil Pasha Sayrin, condemned the position of the Kenyan government in support of the militia and allowing it to carry out hostile activity against the Sudanese people and government, indicating that what the rebel Rapid Support Militia is doing on Kenyan territory contributes to the fragmentation of Sudan’s unity, which leads to undermining the sovereignty of the state and contradicts the charters of the African Union and the United Nations.

Sayrin said, “We consider this interference a lack of respect and appreciation for the historical relations between the two countries, especially the commercial ones.”

Regarding the Wildlife Unit, Sayreen said that it is one of the pillars of the Ministry of Interior and operates without media spotlight due to the nature of its tasks and specializations directed towards animals in the wilderness, noting that historically it was called the Hunting Guard Forces and then a decision was issued in 1991 to merge it into a structure called the Unified Police Forces until a decision was issued to cancel it in 2022 by the Sovereignty Council decree No. 490 to merge the specialized units and forces into the unified police structure and return it to its previous status as an independent regular force administratively and technically reporting directly to the Minister of Interior.
He pointed to the development of the activity and concepts of these forces based on global developments and they were called the Wildlife Protection Forces.

For his part, Major General Essam El-Din Haqqar, Director of the Wildlife Protection Unit, presented the history of wildlife in Sudan and its continuous and ongoing relationship with Sudanese heritage and legacy, especially spiritual inspiration in poetry and other beliefs and the sanctification of some animals, which were considered a type of culture.
He reviewed the violations of the rebel Rapid Support Militia against wildlife and the extent of the damage it suffered, pointing to the loss of more than 13 farms in Khartoum State since the beginning of the war, which contained 40 pairs of lions and gazelles, in addition to the loss of a number of animals due to their death, including hyenas and gazelles.
He added that a number of animals were evacuated in cooperation with the Austrian Four Claws Organization, from the Sudan Park, including 29 lions, in addition to a number of deer, noting that the Sudan Park contains a number of crocodiles estimated at 3 nuts and snakes that were released to live in the wild.
The Director of the Wildlife Protection Unit revealed that the Dinder National Park was severely damaged by the militia, which slaughtered the remaining animals in it and used them for food, such as deer, and killed some animals by shooting them, causing a great loss of animals in the Dinder National Park..