Wild animals including endemic ones are migrating from Ethiopian Omo National Park to neighbouring Kenya and South Sudan due to canal excavation being carried out in connection with the sugar factory project under execution in the domain of the park, Addis Maleda reported here yesterday.
Head with Office of Omo National Park, Nuru Yimer, said that the precious panicked wild elephants, giraffes, buffaloes and rhinoceros have escaped from the park being disturbed by the excavation of the canal in the mountainous area with its large parts taken away from the Omo National Park for Omo Kuraz No 3 Sugar Development Project.
Nuru said that a wild species named Zhenbi, which was found only in Omo National Park has become an extinct animal in the area.
The breeding, sanctuary and in general the habitat of the precious wild animals has completely been destroyed in connection with the government-run big Omo Kuraz No. 3 sugar factory project beginning from 2020 owing to the construction of a 75 to 30 metres wide and three to 19 metres deep canal to intercept water from the Omo River, Nuru said.
He further said that the wild animals are dying in the big canals dug in the park.
Nuru further said that it has been two years since the construction work of the sugar factory was disrupted and this has seriously affected the safety of the wild animals in the park.
Up to 40 percent of the Omo National Park with a total domain of 293,600 hectares of land has been taken for the Omo Kuraz No. 3 sugar development project, it was learnt. This clearly indicates that the sugar factory project and the illegal hunting of wild animals pose a serious threat against the existence of the park, the habitat of the precious wild animals in the country, according to sources.
Source : Borkena
