Innholdsfortegnelse for Winter 2023 i Kruger Magazine

SPECIES ID ‒ MAMMALS “Seldom seen, it is one of the Kruger's most elusive cats.” The serval (Leptailurus serval) is one of the most beautiful members of the cat family Felidae. It derives its name from lobo-cerval, the Portuguese name for a European lynx, but its generic name comes from the Greek leptos, meaning ‘fine or delicate’, and ailouros meaning ‘cat’. It occurs widely in sub-Saharan Africa, and there is also a relict population in north Africa in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. They were extirpated in Tunisia but have been reintroduced into the El Feidja National Park. They select the wetter savanna and grassland habitats, but are absent from the rain forests, and the extreme drier areas. Three subspecies are recognised but only one (L. s. serval) occurs in southern…

SPECIES ID ‒ BIRDS In the previous edition of KRUGER MAGAZINE, we discussed some of the starlings to be found in the Kruger National Park. These were the ‘shining birds’ – the so-called glossy starlings of which there are five species. In this issue we will look at the remaining four – the violet-backed, wattled and red-winged starlings, and the common myna, an invasive alien species. The violet-backed is almost certainly the most beautiful of the starlings in the Kruger. They too have highly iridescent plumage but are not from the same genus as the other glossy starlings. The glossies are mainly from the genus Lamprotornis, meaning ‘shining bird’, but in this respect, the violet-backed easily outshines them all. It has also been called the ‘amethyst starling’, which is probably…

THEME PREDATORS, RAPTORS & REPTILES Many of you might have wondered about the Executive Team's process in determining the TOP 50 and then the TOP 10. From hundreds of entries, it is a challenging task to get to only 50, and we do this by way of taking the 25 most voted for photographs (only one entry per individual photographer will go through to the second round. Should a photographer have more than one photograph that falls in this group, only the top photograph based on the number of votes will be considered for the second round) and 25 of our own choice to announce the TOP 50. Working through the entries, we also get to ‘know’ entrants as some have been entering since day one, way back in 2017…

RIVERS OF KNP The Sweni River System is not normally included when referring to the rivers of the Kruger National Park. This is because it is not a perennial river and can, at best, be considered a seasonal river. This is, of course, little different from the situation related to the Shingwedzi River. Furthermore, in recognition of the large and important area it drains on the watershed between the Olifants and Sabie River, Sweni River should be recognised as a river of note for the Park. « Late Salomon Joubert (Dr SCJ Joubert) started his conservation career in 1964 as a postgraduate student in the Sabi Sand Wildtuin and was appointed to the Kruger National Park as Junior Ranger at the end of 1964, stationed at the remote Klipkoppies Section…

Is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of nearly two million hectares (20 000km²) in the province of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in the north-east of South Africa. IIt extends 360km from north to south and 65km from east to west. It became South Africa's first National Park in 1926. In 1993, fences between Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR) and the Kruger National Park were removed to encourage wildlife migration and the Greater Kruger National Park was born.…

Our KRUGER BIRD CHALLENGE was initially created to generate funds to finance the production costs for the regular Conservation Projects that we showcase in each issue of KRUGER MAGAZINE. The project was launched on 21 September 2021. Little did we know how popular it would become. From individuals to couples to groups – some of which have registered for a second round, mostly to better their own previous challenge. Many of our registered challengers are groups, including friends, families and even business colleagues. It is an ideal group activity, and we are quite sure that there is a lot of ‘inside challenging’ within these groups, making it even more challenging! 400 days after the first registrations started pouring in, we had the first challengers’ Checklists coming in, and by that…

RANGER DIARIES - MAHLOMETELA Living and growing up in the Kruger National Park is a privilege. Although one must often live without the modern amenities that city dwellers take for granted, the freedom to live in one of the best Parks in the world compensates for many shortcomings. The Head Ranger Bruce Bryden was very amicable to allowing families to be involved with ranger activities and we made good use of these opportunities when they arose. Furthermore, it was required that rangers had to acquaint themselves with every corner of their sections, so camping out in the bush was seen as a must rather than a luxury. Our son, Dieter, was no exception and going through some photo albums recently I realised what a wonderful time Dieter had as a…

It is heart-warming to have received some First Visit contributions from the younger generation. It means our readership age stretches wide – literally from young to old, including teenagers – and our goal is becoming a reality! Well done to all these future conservationists that send us emails – we enjoy reading your stories and endeavour to publish them all over time. With our schedule being quite tight, our travelling (as it is mostly by road) gives us the opportunity to just chat – no laptops and mobile phones occupying most of our time. It is then that we contemplate content ideas for future issues of KRUGER MAGAZINE, and it is also then that we cannot help but affirm to each other how blessed we are – and then say…

SPECIES ID - TREES The spines on non-fruit bearers have strong, thick and sharp spines that are up to 4cm long. Skukuza, KNP. Background and general description Although distributed throughout the Kruger National Park (KNP), the torchwood or green-thorn, Balanites maughamii (fakkelhout or fakkelsaadboom in Afrikaans, nnulu in Xitsonga and mudulu in Tshivenda), is somewhat of a rare tree. Nevertheless, because of its conspicuous physical features, it stands out in the veld and is thus worth looking out for. It is a large, erect (20-25m) deciduous to semi-deciduous tree with a fairly sparse, spreading and roundish crown. The main trunk typically is long and straight and deeply fluted lengthwise and buttressed in older or mature trees. Branching occurs high up. Nick Zarmbatis was the former Manager: Biodiversity Conservation in Conservation…

PRIVATE LODGE ‒ KARONGWE RIVER LODGE Although we are certainly not strangers when it comes to visiting Karongwe, located in the heart of the Makutsi Game Reserve, it always excites us when we get an invitation to this stunning reserve in the Greater Kruger area. The Karongwe Portfolio consists of five lodges on the reserve and this time we visited Karongwe River Lodge. “Karongwe is known for often spotting leopards.” As soon as we entered the gate, that wonderfully relaxed feeling took hold, and on our way to the lodge, we encountered some of the reserve's plains game species – almost as if they wait on the side of the road to welcome you. Watch this! Scan the QR code or visit https://youtu.be/x-oB37vjE6U to watch the video: ‘Karongwe Portfolio –…