Interesting Historical and Archaeological Facts About the Kruger National Park, South Africa.

An elephant family crossing one of the many easy access roads inside the Kruger National Park.

The surface area of Kruger National Park is 7,580 miles² (19,633 km²) which is  a size larger than many countries around the world.

  • The park was first proclaimed in 1898 as the Sabie Game Reserve by the then president of the Transvaal Republic or the ZAR (Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek), 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.
  • James Stevenson-Hamilton, born on 02 October 1867 in Dublin, Ireland,  was appointed the park’s first warden on 1 July 1902 and served for the next 44 years until 1946.
  • On 31 May 1926 the National Parks Act was passed 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 at Skukuza.
  • KRUGER IS AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL TREASURE HOUSE BESIDE BEING A CONSERVATION AREA.
  • 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 (upright man) roamed the area between 500 000 and 100 000 years ago
  • Cultural artifacts 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 Park area.
  • There are significant archaeological ruins at Thulamela and Masorini
  • There are numerous examples of San Art scattered throughout the park.

Come Home to a Relaxing evening at the Beverly Hills. To book your stay please call at +2715 004 1263/4 or +2779 581 1841/+2772 539 1890/+2783 741 7821/+2760 658 8059 or email: thete-at@nix.co.za or Click the Green WhatsApp Button Above this picture.

Nearby Attractions: The golf course at Hans Merensky Country Club.

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