SIGHTS TO SEE:
PLANTS:
The Kruger National Park is divided into six eco-systems: Baobab sandveld, Mopane scrub, Lebombo knobthorn-marula bushveld, mixed acacia thicket, Combretum-silver clusterleaf woodland on granite and riverine forest. Altogether it has 1,982 species of plants.
BIRDS:
Out of the 517 species of birds found at Kruger, 253 are residents, 117 non-breeding migrants, and 147 nomads.
MAMMALS:
All the Big Five game animals are found at Kruger National Park, which has more species of mammals than any other African Game Reserve (at 147 species). You can view the Kruger webcams here. As of 2004, the park has counted approximately:
25,150 African Buffalo
200 African Hunting Dogs
350 Black Rhinoceros
32,000 Burchell's Zebras
500 Bushbucks
200 Cheetahs
300 Common Eland
9,000 Giraffes
5,000 Greater Kudus
3,000 Hippopotamus
over 170,000 Impalas.
1,000 Leopards
2,000 Lions
160 Mountain Reedbucks
300 Nyalas
300 Reedbucks
60 Roan Antelopes
550 Sable Antelopes
11,670 Savannah Elephants
2,000 Spotted Hyenas
200 Tsessebes
3,800 Warthogs
5,000 Waterbucks
5,000 White Rhinoceros
17,000 Blue Wildebeest
Kruger is reportedly the most biodiverse Game Reserve on Earth, with huge variety amongst Mammals, Birds, Fish, Insects and Plants. The park stopped culling elephants in 1989 and tried translocating them, but by 2004 the population had increased to 11,670 elephants. (2006: ± 13.500.) The park's habitats can only sustain about 8,000 elephants. The park started using annual contraception in 1995, but has stopped that due to problems with delivering the contraceptives, and upsetting the herds.
The Kruger National Park holds over 48 tons of ivory in storage. According to Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), it is allowed to sell 30 tons.
REPTILES, FISH & AMPHIBIANS:
There are 120 species of reptile, including approximately 5,000 Nile Crocodiles, 52 species of fish, and 35 species of amphibians.
|
