Kruger Park

The Kruger National Park, our History

The Kruger National park is a national game reserve in the Eastern part of South Africa in the province of Mpumalanga. Although the park has now been extended and it extends much further and even into Mozambique. The national park came about after many years of debates and struggles and finally the proclamation of Kruger Park came into being in June 1926. The park was named Kruger Park after the the State President of the South Africa Republic, Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger. The final motivation for the national park came from the Minister of Lands, P Grobler , who was seconded by the opposition leader Jan Smuts. The National Parks Acts was passed in May and June of 1926 by Parliament

Since then the Kruger National park has become a major tourist destination and has added to South Africa both economically and ensuring its wildlife diversity. The park has been through major renovations and in 1991 Robbie Robinson under took a cause that is now known as the Transition of the Park into the new South Africa. Robbie was the CEO of the South African National Parks Board, in the position he made it possible to further extend the park by removing fences on the parks western border so that animals could then roam into the private parks that were on the border.

Then in 1998 the Kruger Parks first black director was elected, and David Mabunda is now the CEO of the South African National Parks. At the same time the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park was formed, which allowed unstable animal herds in the Kruger Park to be relocated to the new park. So it was at this point the Kruger Park not only had a diverse population of animals but it also had enough to be able to supply other National Parks with Animals. This was a great success for the Kruger Park and helps in ensuring the diversity as well as numbers of wildlife within South Africa.

The Kruger park has not been with out contraversy and difficulties. In the early years of the park being formed it was only open to only the White population and therefore served no relevance to the black population. This stigma has obviously been removed and the Kruger Park is currently one of the biggest employers for locals in the area. The white population also had a devestating affect initially on the animal population as it was open for hunters and poaching was also not controlled. Eventually hunting was controlled and while it is still possible it is regulated and is often only open to animals that are over populated and offered as an alternative to culling. The park is still struggling with poaching it did reduce at one stage but it has picked up with the illigal ivory and rhino horn trade.

As a closing remark I personally enjoy visiting the Kruger Park, it offers a great destination to get away from all the people and busy lives we live in the towns. It also gives us the opportunity to animals interact and live in there natural environment. Being a photographer having the opportunity to capture an animal in its natural environment is well worth the cost. I am impressed by the way the government and the National parks board has maintained and developed the park, and I beleive it is a crucial requirement to ensure the continued growth of South African tourism.

Below is a picture of when the park was first opened up , followed by a more recent picture where some tourist decided to get a little close. There were also some books I found at Amazon on the past History of the Kruger Park, why not check them out. There are also some great wildlife and bird books for Kruger park available of Amazon, click here to see.

So as we can see the Kruger Park definitely a high point in South Africa's past.And I think it is important that we share our experiences we have there as well as our history that we know about the park. Why not leave a comment telling me when you went to Kruger, where in Kruger you went and what animals you saw. If you have any links/photos or additional history you would like to share why not post that too. I Eagerly await your comment...