Coalitions of Kruger National Park

[Pckts]

I didn't know exactly where to put this so I figured he was a good spot..

On Kruger
"The Greater Kruger National Park has a fence around it. The Greater Kruger National Park consists of the Kruger National Park as well as some private reserves (Klaserie, Balule, Sabi Sand, Timbavati etc). There are no fences between these private reserves and the Kruger National Park, so the animals are free to roam between National Park and private reserves, however as I said, the GREATER KNP has a fence around it, and as the private reserves are situated around the edges of the National Park, there are indeed fences along some of the private reserves, thereby separating the Greater KNP from the human settlements. So, the fences that some people have seen while on safari at the private reserves, are fences that keep the wildlife from moving into human settlements (and also from keeping the humans out of the wildlife regions). They are not fences that keep the animals from moving to the KNP as those boundaries are unfenced.

Hope this helps!"





"Unfortunately, there is less and less of 'wild untouched' Africa remaining....meaning that as the human population has grown there continues to be pressure around undeveloped wild spaces. Kruger National Park and the private reserves which surround it occupy more than 20,000 km2. The size of some countries. However, the human settlements adjacent to the park and particularly on the western side hold considerable populations. Without fences human/animal conflict, poaching and destruction of vegetation by grazing domestic stock, firewood collection etc would inflict serious destruction on this beautiful, wild and varied ecosystem. Many parks in other southern African countries like Etosha in Namibia, Chobe National Park in Botswana are partly fenced in some areas of their boundary to prevent the sort of issues mentioned above. This does not mean they are 'zoo like'. Animals in the south of Kruger are more used to cars than the more northern areas and no you cannot go off road - thankfully - or you would see untold damage and disturbance! In the Mara/Serengeti the animals there have shown habituation to the presence of vehicles; cheetahs on top of vehicles, lions lying in the shadow of a vehicle etc. In the larger scheme of things the wildlife in Kruger or Chobe or Etosha or the Mara is just as wild and free as anywhere else but you can certainly find parks which have less tourism infrastructure in them if that is what you are after. We shouldn't ever kid ourselves though, that all wildlife in Africa is not up against incredible pressure in the human push for land, gas, water, timber and wildlife 'products'. Visible fences or indeed no fences are no true indicator or guarantee of the 'freedom' or 'wildness' of the wildlife'."



The difference between Kruger and Tanzania


"One thing you need to consider is that Kruger is a completely different set of ecosystems to East Africa. The Mara Serengeti ecosystem is largely Savanna dominated. This means huge grassy plains with fewer trees, interspersed with rivers and riverine vegetation. In Kruger there is some drier plains areas to the centre and north while in the south it is much more dominated by higher rainfall, much more water run off creating rivers and streams which support denser and greatly varied vegetation. It has a beauty and complexity all its' own.

Many people have a romantic vision of endless grassy vistas with thousands of plains grazers a la 'Out of Africa' - East Africa. Well Africa is the sum of all its' parts and these areas are but two different examples. The Kalahari, the Okavango Delta, Etosha Pan, the Zambezi escarpment.....they are all unique and incredible.....but therefore not comparable one to the other in my view. If your safari vision is the East Africa 'version' then go for that, but do consider returning to some other areas of this amazing continent,including Kruger, because you will not be disappointed." Reply