Each year in South Sudan, around 350,000 cows and bulls are stolen and more than 2,500 people are killed by cattle rustlers. It is hard to overstate the importance of cattle to the Mundari people. Their animals mean everything to them, wealth, status, sustenance and dowry, and they guard them with their lives. They farm a breed of cattle called Ankole-Watusi, a distinctive white animal with curved horns, also known as "the cattle of kings". With a single cow or bull worth up to $500, it’s not surprising that Mundari men stand watch over their herd with rifles. Their cows are the most important thing in their lives and they will protect them at all costs.

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