Kruger National Park Travel and Vacations

Mammals & Birdlife

Legendary Mammals

Kruger National Park is an excellent arena for close encounters of the four-legged kind. It is a haven where critically endangered and vulnerable species, such as the African wild dog, black rhinoceros, and cheetah, can still be viewed in their natural habitat. The big cats prosper, with around 2000 lions and 2000 leopards residing in the park, ensuring that the average game viewer can quickly tick them off their checklist.

Elephants occur in abundance, with herds expanding so much in recent years (almost 12,000 elephants currently call Kruger home) that many groups have had to relocate to protect the ecosystem. White rhinos are present in lesser numbers but are regularly spotted throughout the park. Solid herds of African buffalo frequently blacken the gold sweep of the savanna, emerging from the bush in their thousands.

Other Species

Large herbivores such as Burchell's zebra, blue wildebeest, giraffe, kudu, waterbuck, and impala prevail on every terrain, while eland, nyala, and smaller antelope are rarer finds. Lesser mammals include spotted hyenas, black-backed jackals, honey badgers, genets, meerkats, mongoose, warthogs, bush pigs, porcupines, baboons, and Vervet monkeys. Dams and rivers teem with hippo and crocodile populations.

Birdlife

With over 500 feathered species, Kruger is a birder's paradise. From the delightful lilac-breasted roller to the majestic Bateleur eagle, even wildlife enthusiasts will be charmed by the kaleidoscope of birdlife after the larger game. A few of the park's birds belong to a group called 'The Big Six.' They include the tremendous Lappet-faced vulture, the snow-bellied Martial eagle, the eccentrically dressed saddle-billed stork, the low-stalking Kori bustard, the comically odd ground hornbill, and the rarely spotted Pel's fishing owl.

History

Sabie Game Reserve

In 1898, the initiative of Jakob-Louis van Wyk, R.K. Loveday, and President Paul Kruger to establish a 'government wildlife park,' the area between the Sabie and Crocodile rivers, was proclaimed the Sabie Game Reserve. This area now comprises the Southern third of the modern park. The first official warden, Scottish-born Major James Stevenson-Hamilton, was appointed by Sir Godfrey Lagden in 1902. Harry Wolhuter and Thomas Duke became the Sabie Game Reserve's first rangers, posted at present-day Pretoriuskop and Lower Sabie. At the same time, Stevenson-Hamilton operated headquarters at the Sabie Bridge (present-day Skukuza).

Shingwedzi Game Reserve

In 1903, the Shingwedzi Game Reserve (which now forms part of northern Kruger) was proclaimed and added to Stevenson-Hamilton's list of responsibilities. He appointed Major AA Fraser as the reserve's first head ranger in 1904.

Kruger National Park

In 1926, the National Parks Act was passed. The reserves were fused and expanded into forging the Kruger National Park. The first three tourist cars accessed the park in 1927, with numbers swelling to 180 in 1928 and 850 in 1929. In the 1940s, the Greek royal family and King George II visited Kruger.

Vestiges of yesteryear survive throughout the park, from the Albasini ruins (the original home of the area's first European settler) near the Phabeni gate and prospectors' graves in the south to the site of Wolhuter's lion attack and the Masorini archaeological site in the north. From the near-extinction of several species to the ongoing battle against poaching, Kruger Park and its champions have braved many challenges in its evolution toward the distinguished reserve as it exists today.

Terrain & Vegetation

Dimensions

Stretching 380 km north to south and averaging 60 km east to west, the wild expanse of the Kruger National Park may almost be considered a province in its own right. Two rivers are natural borders to the park; the Limpopo River in the north and the Crocodile River in the south. Kruger's western boundary runs across the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, while Mozambique's Limpopo National Park lies to the east.

Rivers

A few significant rivers run west to east through the park, starting with the Sabie River in the south, the Olifants and Letaba rivers in the heart of the park, and the Luvuvhu in the far north. These rivers replenish the numerous smaller streams and dams throughout the park. Depending on the region, rainfall varies from a maximum of 720 mm to a minimum of 400 mm per annum.

Vegetation

Vegetation digresses throughout Kruger, creating a stirring medley of settings for game sightings. Rock figs and bushwillows star the southwest, with kiaat and silver-cluster leaf lacing the Pretoriuskop area. The general south is full of sickle bush and thorn trees, ranging from knob thorn to scented and sticky thorn. Shady tamboti trees and the juicy-fruited marula trees cloak the area as well. A mopane mantle covers the earth from the park's heart to the far north. Rare tree species occur in the northern Pafuri and Punda Maria regions; an area also weighted in ancient baobab trees.

Geography

Geological Substructures

Around seven geological substructures pads the bushy carpet of the park. The west is generally bedded in granite, with rolling plains sprouting from the sandy earth. Coarse, dark gabbroic intrusions also pepper this region, occurring sporadically in the savanna. Karoo sedimentary rock stretches north to south in an axial girdle, yielding fine sand and salty clay soils. The east of the park is stained with ruddy basalt, climbing into the rhyolite base coat of the Lebombo Mountains' stony bulges toward Mozambique.