SuddLocated on the upper reaches of the White Nile river, southern Sudan and covering an area of aro
SuddLocated on the upper reaches of the White Nile river, southern Sudan and covering an area of around 34,500 square km (13,300 square miles), is one of the world’s largest inland wetlands, the marshes of the Sudd. This is a landscape of reed-beds and Papyrus, with areas of open water that are often choked by dense mats of floating Water Hyacinth.The rains fall mostly between April and September, keeping the marshes wet, and flooding of nearby grasslands and woods trebles the wetland’s extent to over 100,000 square km (38, 600 square miles). The Sudd is a haven for wildlife in an otherwise dry region, and it positively teems with birds, especially during migration periods, when the number of species exceeds 400. The Shoebill Stork, also known as the Whale-headed Stork, is seldom seen far from water. It feeds mostly on lungfish, and also on small frogs and mammals.The eastern edge of the Sudd is scarred by the Jonglei Canal, an ambitious and uncompleted project designed to divert water and to drain part of the marshes. Abandoned for financial and political reasons, this project has left a trough about 5m (16ft) deep, 75m (245ft) wide, and 360km (225miles) long, which blocks the migrations of large mammals such as Giraffes, elephants, and hippopotamuses.~ JMImage credit: Shoebill Stork: Labelled for reuse http://bit.ly/1tBEYLH. Accessed on 18.06.16. Jonglei Canal: Labelled for reuse: http://bit.ly/1Qd8gKg Accessed 18.06.16More Info:The Impenetrable Wetlands of Sudd in South Sudan: http://bit.ly/1W5nvGbSudd Swamp: http://bit.ly/21se0ArSeeing Sudd from space: http://bit.ly/1UCcCusHowell, P. (1983). The Impact of the Jonglei Canal in the Sudan. The Geographical Journal, 149(3), 286-300. doi:1. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/634003 doi:1 -- source link
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