10 Interesting Kruger facts
The Kruger National Park is a national icon, and perhaps our greatest tourist attraction. And boy is it a fascinating and wonderous place!
10 interesting facts that you might not know about the Kruger…
1. It’s huge (obviously), sprawled across some 20 000 square km, making it larger than some countries.
2. The Park is 360km long and about 65km at its widest point.
3. It is home to around 27 000 buffalo, 12 000 elephants, 2 000 lion, 10 000 rhino and 2 000 leopard.
4. Established on 26 March 1898, the Park was originally called the Sabi Game Reserve. It was expanded over the years, finally achieving national status in 1926 when it was given its present name in honour of President Paul Kruger of the Transvaal Republic.
5. Colonel James Stevenson-Hamilton was appointed as first warden of the reserve in 1902. A Scottish cavalry officer who had fought in the Anglo Boer War, his appointment proved to be an inspired choice. Over the next 44 years he toiled tirelessly in steering the Park towards the wildlife sanctuary it is today.
6. Of the 517 species of birds occurring in Kruger, 253 are residents, 117 are non-breeding residents and 147 are nomads.
7. It is home to 114 species of reptiles, including about 3 000 Nile crocodiles and various snakes of which the black mamba and puff adder are the most dangerous.
8. There is evidence of human occupation dating back 1.5 million years. South Africa’s original inhabitants, the San, lived in a number of the caves and rocky shelters found in the area and left behind a legacy of Stone Age tools and artefacts as well as numerous rock paintings.
9. The Thulamela Iron Age Site, near Pafuri in the far north, is a stone walled site built approximately 450 – 500 years ago. Various artefacts unearthed on site, provide proof that the community was part of a dynamic trade network controlled by Arab merchants off the east coast of Africa during this period.
10. We think it is the best place in the world!
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