Kruger - history and the future - Africa Geographic
Kruger National Park - an extraordinary history through images from a bygone era, and looking forward to a promising future
africageographic.com
t was a few years before the South African (Boer) War, in the late 1800s when President Paul Kruger (in office 1883 – 1900) was alerted by James Stevenson-Hamilton to the fact that a rapid extinction of various species of flora and fauna was taking place in South Africa. Unregulated hunting meant that wild animals were disappearing fast, and President Kruger had his eye on a piece of land he wanted to turn into a reserve.
MAKING A PARK
In 1898, he managed to declare the area between the Sabie and Crocodile rivers a game sanctuary and restricted hunting zone – which he called the Government Game Reserve, subsequently renamed to the Sabi Game Reserve. This was a time of great upheaval, during which President Kruger declared war on the British Empire, a war that ended in 1902.
In 1903, the area between the Sabie and Olifants rivers was added to the reserve, and by the end of 1903, the Shingwedzi Game Reserve was proclaimed – covering the area between the Letaba and Levuvhu rivers. The subsequent addition of further farms added to this vast protected area.
