20110118
reuters

JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - South Sudan appealed for investors to plough $140 million into its war-hit wildlife parks, seeking to kick-start a tourism industry and wean itself off oil months ahead of its expected independence.

The south has the world's second largest migration of mammals, untamed wildernesses and vast herds of gazelles and antelopes, rivalling anything seen in Kenya, Uganda and other African holiday hotspots, say experts.

But populations of elephants, hippos and other fleshier animals have plummeted after hungry militia fighters hunted them for their meat and forced them to take shelter in dense forests.

The region has next to no tourists, largely thanks to the long war, poor security and almost total lack of infrastructure -- there are only 60km (40 miles) of paved roads in a territory around the size of France.

"We feel that as we are coming out of unity with Khartoum we want to create another source of income other than oil," Daniel Wani, undersecretary for wildlife at the south's Ministry of Wildlife, Conservation and Tourism, told Reuters.

"The potential of tourism can encourage people to come."

South Sudan, with 98 percent of its budget coming from oil revenues, is expected to split away from the north in July after early results showed an overwhelming vote for separation in an independence referendum, held last week.

The vote was promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war with the north.