“The Kruger National Park was established in 1926. The surface area of Kruger National Park is 7,580 miles² (19,633 km²).

 

There are almost 254 known cultural heritage sites in the Kruger National Park, including nearly 130-recorded rock art sites.

 

There is ample evidence that prehistoric man – Homo erectus roamed the area between 500 000 and 100 000 years ago.

 

Cultural artefacts of Stone Age man have been found for the period 100 000 to 30 000 years ago.

 

More than 300 archaeological sites of Stone Age man have been found

 

Evidence of Bushman Folk (San) and Iron Age people from about 1500 years ago is also in great evidence.

 

There are also many historical tales of the presence of Nguni people and European explorers and settlers in the Kruger area.

 

There are significant archaeological ruins at Thulamela and Masorini.

 

There are numerous examples of San Art scattered throughout the park.

 

The park was first proclaimed in 1898 as the Sabie Game Reserve by the then president of the Transvaal Republic, Paul Kruger. He first proposed the need to protect the animals of the Lowveld in 1884, but his revolutionary vision took another 12 years to be realised when the area between the Sabie and Crocodile Rivers was set aside for restricted hunting.

 

The Scottish born James Stevenson-Hamilton (born in 1867) was appointed the park’s first warden on 1 July 1902.

 

On 31 May 1926 the National Parks Act was proclaimed and with it the merging of the Sabie and Shingwedzi Game Reserves into the Kruger National Park.

 
The first motorists entered the park in 1927 for a fee of one pound.

 

Many accounts of the park’s early days can be found in the Stevenson-Hamilton Memorial Library.

 

“Where nearly 2 million hectares of unrivalled diversity of life forms fuses with historical and archaeological sights – this is real Africa.”

 

“The world-renowned Kruger National Park offers a wildlife experience that ranks with the best in Africa. Established in 1898 to protect the wildlife of the South African Lowveld, this national park of nearly 2 million hectares, SANParks - Kruger National Park is unrivalled in the diversity of its life forms and a world leader in advanced environmental management techniques and policies. “

 

Truly the flagship of the South African national parks, Kruger is home to an impressive number of species: 336 trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds and 147 mammals. Man's interaction with the Lowveld environment over many centuries - from bushman rock paintings to majestic archaeological sites like Masorini and Thulamela - is very evident in the Kruger National Park. These treasures represent the cultures, persons and events that played a role in the history of the Kruger National Park and are conserved along with the park's natural assets.”

 

                   *All information on this website is taken from the relevant source SANP.