Kruger National Park

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Lore & Background

The park's roots go back to 1867, when individual farmers in the South African Republic began publishing notices in the Staatscourant prohibiting hunting on their private land. Between 1867 and 1881, some 200 owners protected game on about 300 farms. One farmer, Alexander Marsh Robertson, owned two adjacent farms, Rolfontein and Elandsberg, extending over 7600 morgen (65.1092 km²) in the Wakkerstroom district. He fenced part of his property—some 500 morgen (4.2835 km²)—using leadwood and barbed wire, creating a game camp. President Paul Kruger heard about Robertson's success and visited Rolfontein to see the experiment first hand. He visited again in 1892, and at a great braai held in his honour, he laid out for the first time in a public forum his plan to establish the first Game Reserve in Africa along the Sabi River. Sabi Game Reserve was created in 1898, and James Stevenson-Hamilton became its first warden in 1902. In 1926, the National Parks Act combined Sabi Game Reserve, the adjacent Shingwedzi Game Reserve, and farms to create Kruger National Park. Private landowners exchanged a total of 76,000 km² of land in the reserve for 550 km² of government land outside, plus financial restitution totalling £40,000. The park's boundaries were completely fenced starting in 1959, and in 2002 it was incorporated into the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park with Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe and Limpopo National Park in Mozambique.

Reader's Guide

Kruger National Park is significant as South Africa's first national park and a major conservation area. Its establishment followed early private conservation efforts by farmers like Alexander Marsh Robertson, whose game camp inspired President Paul Kruger to propose a larger reserve. The park was formed through the 1926 National Parks Act, merging the Sabi and Shingwedzi game reserves with private lands, facilitated by land exchanges and financial restitution. The park's history includes the removal of native tribes, the forcible relocation of the Makuleke people in 1969, and later the return of their land in 1996. The park is part of the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere and the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a peace park with Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It remains a major tourist attraction, drawing close to 2 million visitors in 2024.

Did You Know?

• The park extends 360 km from north to south and 65 km from east to west.
• President Paul Kruger first laid out his plan for a game reserve at a braai held in his honour at Alexander Marsh Robertson's farm in 1892.
• Private landowners exchanged 76,000 km² of land in the reserve for 550 km² of government land outside, plus £40,000 in financial restitution.
• The Makuleke people were forcibly relocated from the Pafuri triangle in 1969, but their land claim for 198.42 km² was returned in 1996.
• In 2002, Kruger National Park was incorporated into the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a peace park with Zimbabwe and Mozambique.