Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Kruger Park

Kruger Park- Author; Ad Meskens- Wikimedia

Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Kruger Park

Steeped in legend and history, the iconic Kruger National Park in South Africa is basically waiting for you to explore its vast landscapes and spectacular African wildlife.

It should definitely be part of your plan to take a journey of exploration to find Africa’s Big Five: Elephant, Lion, Rhino, Leopard and Buffalo, which you will most definitely discover while on a real Kruger National Park safari.

1. It is the oldest park in Africa

Kruger Park- Author; Ad Meskens- Wikimedia

The world-famous Kruger National Park is the oldest Park in Africa and one of South Africa’s most popular tourist destinations.

Commonly known as the “People’s Park”, it offers everything from budget-friendly accommodation to 5-star luxury lodges.

Conservation projects and a commitment to protecting the abundance of the game have created a wildlife sanctuary of world-class standards.

The Kruger National Park was first proclaimed in 1898 as the Sabie Game Reserve by the then President of the Transvaal Republic, Paul Kruger.

He initiated a drive to create a ‘no-hunting’ zone to protect the wild animals of the Lowveld. Unchecked hunting was decimating the herds of wild game that roamed free at that time.

Kruger’s vision for a protected national Park only materialised twelve years later when the area between the Sabie and Crocodile Rivers was set aside for restricted hunting.

Motorists and game enthusiasts were allowed entry to the Park in 1927 for a fee of one pound.

2. There is evidence of prehistoric man at Kruger park

Prehistoric man exhibition- Source; Wellcome Gallery Collection- Wikimedia

There is ample evidence that prehistoric man  (precisely the Homo erectus) roamed the area between 500 000 and 100 000 years ago. There are almost 254 known cultural heritage sites in Kruger Park, including nearly 130 recorded rock art sites.

More than 300 archaeological sites of Stone Age man have been found from the period dating back 100 000 to 30 000 years ago.

Evidence of Bushman tribes (San people) and Iron Age inhabitants dating back to 1 500 years ago have been found, as well as the presence of Nguni people and European explorers.

Thulamela and Masorini are two areas where significant archaeological ruins are found, and there are numerous examples of San art scattered throughout the reserve.

3. Booming tourism at Kruger park started as early as 1926

Early 20th Century Tourists- Author; Mav- Wikimedia

The value of tourism from game reserves as a source of revenue was already cemented by the time the area was officially proclaimed a National Park in 1926.

Excursions to the Park and overnight stays had been arranged by Stevenson-Hamilton, Warden of the Park at the time. However, there were no facilities for tourists and they usually slept on the train that brought them down from the Witwatersrand.

A main road was therefore built as well as a few secondary roads to attract more tourists to the Park, with the idea being that paying tourists would be accompanied by a guide.

4. The park was named after Paul Kruger, the man behind the development of the park

Paul Kruger- Author; DieOuTransvaal- Wikimedia

The man behind the development of the Kruger National Park was then president of the Transvaal Republic, Paul Kruger.

He was not a well-educated man, with only three formal months of education spent in a rural farm school, but he grew up in the wild frontiers of the old country and had an enduring love of nature and wildlife.

At the urging of early conservationists who were alarmed at the scale of unchecked hunting in the Lowveld region, he made an indelible mark in history by proclaiming an expansive area would be allocated for the protection of South Africa’s wild animals.

Kruger was born in 1825 on a rural farm. When the Great Trek started in 1836, his father uprooted the family and moved them to what was known as the Transvaal, where they settled in a town called Rustenburg.

Kruger showed strong leadership qualities and eventually became Commandant-General of the then South African Republic, later known as the Transvaal.

His leadership skills became more prominent when he was appointed a member of a commission of the Volksraad, the Transvaal Republican Parliament who were tasked with drawing up a constitution.

Kruger was known as a fierce protector of the Afrikaner nation and on being elected as President of South Africa in 1883, he tirelessly campaigned for South Africa’s complete independence from Britain and the abolition of British supervision.

Kruger made allies of the European sovereignty and arch enemies of the British and was regarded as a fierce politician and military man. However, his abiding legacy was the formation of the Kruger National Park.

5. Its first warden was appointed when it was still known as Sabie Game Reserve

Kruger park northern entrance- Author; Entropy1963- Wikimedia

Scottish-born James Stevenson-Hamilton was appointed as the first Warden of the Park in 1902 when it was still known as the Sabie Game Reserve.

Later, the reserve merged with Shinwedzi Game Reserve in 1927 and became the Kruger National Park. His journals are housed in the Memorial Library in Skukuza and make fascinating reading.

James Stevenson-Hamilton (1867-1957) was born in Scotland, the eldest of nine children. He came to South Africa in 1888 as a member of the 6^th Enniskillen Dragoons. This is the first time he came across wild game in the bush and immediately fell in love with the country.

He returned to South Africa during the second Boer War, as a major in the British army. He did not want to return to England at the end of the war and secured the position of Warden of the Sabi Game Reserve. There was no clear instruction on what to do in the position except to make himself “thoroughly disagreeable to everyone”.

Stevenson-Hamilton took his job seriously and when he caught two policemen poaching game he had them arrested and convicted. This incident earned him quite a reputation. Amongst other tasks, he stopped the movement of cattle through the Park and stopped all prospecting for coal and minerals.

Stevenson-Hamilton remained with the Park until he retired in 1945, on the eve of his 80^th birthday.

6. Kriger Park has a typical subtropical climate

Zebra in Kruger National Park- Author; Maccoinnich- Wikimedia

The Kruger National Park lies in a subtropical zone where summer days are hot and humid, with temperatures often reaching the 40°C mark.

It is a summer rainfall area and the rainy season lasts from September until May. The driest period in the Park is September and October and is regarded as the best game viewing time as the grass is thin and short which is excellent for seeing animals.

The winter months from May to the end of August are popular because the mosquitos are less active in the cold months and there is less chance of contracting malaria if you are not taking prophylactics.

The game stay close to the waterholes in the drier winter months and this attracts the predators which makes it an ideal time of the year for game viewing.

7. Kruger can only sustain a population of 8,000 elephants

African elephants (loxodonta africana) in Kruger National Park- Author; freestock.ca- Wikimedia

The Kruger National Park can only sustain a population of 8 000 elephants but by the last count in 2012, it had close to 17 000 elephants.

The Park stopped culling elephants in 1994 but the significant increase in numbers has put a severe strain on the Park’s habitat.

The Park suffered from extensive elephant poaching in the 1980s which has since reduced.

It holds over 48 tons of ivory in storage and, according to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), has been allowed to sell 30 tons to raise much-needed revenue for anti-poaching measures.

8. During the first world war, Kruger was under threat

World war 1- Image by Bruce Mewett from Pixabay

The Park had a precarious start with numerous factions that were threatening its survival.

For example, hunters wanted access to the Park, soldiers returning from the First World War expected land for sheep farming, prospectors wanted access to the land to search for gold, copper and coal and South Africa’s vets were campaigning for a mass slaughter of wildlife to contain the spread of tsetse fly disease.

It was the South African Railways (SAR) that unwittingly saved the Kruger National Park when they opened a new route from Pretoria to Lorenço Marques (now Maputo). The train stopped in the reserve and travellers were allowed to explore the surrounding bush with a game ranger on hand.

Awareness of the Park and growing interest in it empowered conservation lobbyists to secure the future of the Kruger National Park as a tourist destination that would generate revenue for it to be self-sustainable.

9. It is home to different species of plants and trees

Dichrostachys cinerea, from Kruger National Park- Author; Godot13- Wikimedia

There are currently 6 Biosphere Regions established within South Africa, of which the Kruger to Canyon Biosphere is the largest (and the third largest in the world).

The Kruger to Canyon Biosphere comprises savannahs, grassland and forests that roughly cover over 4.8 million hectares of land bordering South Africa and Mozambique.

The Kruger to Canyon Biosphere finally received international recognition when it was registered as a UNESCO Heritage Site in 2001.

The Kruger National Park is characterised by four bushveld regions that each have their own distinctive appeal:

10. It is also home to different species of birds

Bird specie- Photo by Boris Smokrovic on Unsplash

The Kruger National Park is a birder’s paradise as it boasts of about 517 species of birds; 253 are residents, 117 non-breeding migrants and 147 are nomads.

Known as the Big 6, there are six large species that are by and large restricted to the Park’s conservation areas.

They are the lappet-faced vulture, martial eagle, saddle-billed stork, kori bustard, ground hornbill and the reclusive Pel’s fishing owl, which is localized and seldom seen.

There are between 25 and 30 breeding pairs of saddle-billed storks in the Park, besides a handful of non-breeding individuals. In 2012 178 family groups of ground hornbills roamed the Park and 78 nests were known, of which 50% were active.

Pafuri and Punda Maria in the far north of the Park are regarded as one of the birding hotspots of the world. There are a number of species in the Kruger National Park that are not found anywhere else in the world.

The rest camps in the Park are where birds often see some of the best birds, particularly those bushveld camps that are situated on one of the main rivers. The comical hornbills and glossy starlings have made the rest camps their home, with easy pickings from picnic scraps and family barbeques.

The many dams scattered around the Kruger National Park are excellent birding spots, with the African Fish Eagle being a prize sighting. Its signature call is an absolute delight.