Site description

The IBA includes the important Banyani floodplain system which lies just outside the park's northwestern border near Pafuri, as well as several provincial and privately owned reserves which lie adjacent to the central-western border of the park; namely, Klaserie Nature Reserve (64 000 ha), Timbavati Game Reserve (45 000 ha), Groot- Letaba Nature Reserve (42 000 ha), Manyeleti Game Reserve (15 000 ha), Umbabat Nature Reserve (c. 10 000 ha) and Sabi Sand Nature Reserve (60 000 ha).

The area consists of flat, gently undulating plains, lying about 300 m above sea level, which are occasionally broken by scattered inselbergs. The Lebombo Mountains manifest themselves as a series of low hills that dominate the eastern border of the park; the ridge rises in places to form a west-facing escarpment up to 150 m high. To the north of Punda Maria, and in the extreme southwest of the park, granite, sandstone and quartzite outcrops form several low series of rugged koppies and hills.

The KNP is drained from west to east by two major river systems, the NKomati system and the Limpopo system, which form the southern and northern borders of the park respectively. Six large rivers, the Crocodile, Sabie, Sand, Olifants, Letaba and Luvuvhu also dissect the park. Most of these rivers originate along the great South African escarpment. Other natural water sources include pools, seasonal rivers, springs, pans and artificial water holes and dams.

The climate is characterized by two distinct seasons; a hot, wet rainy season from October to March and a cool dry season from April to September. The park receives an average of 500–550 mm rain per annum; rainfall is highest in the southwest and lowest in the northeast.

The KNP supports a large diversity of habitats owing to the complex underlying geology of the region. Granitic soils dominate the western half of the park and basaltic soils the east, a belt of sandy Karoo sediments separates these. All of these soils give rise to deciduous woodland and savanna. Compounding this diversity is the fact that the park stretches through three degrees of latitude encompassing various types of temperate and subtropical lowland savanna and woodland.

Most of the vegetation of the KNP lowveld consists of deciduous savanna; however a large variety of structural features occur, ranging from dense forest to open, shrubby grassland. The vegetation of the southwest is characterized by dense broadleaved woodland associated with sandy soils; dominants include Dichrostachys cinerea, Combretum apiculatum, C. collinum, C. zeheri and Terminalia sericea. In sparser areas grasses such as Themeda triandra and Panicum maximum dominate. In patches, Acacia nigrescens, Dichrostachys cinerea and Sclerocarya birrea intrude. The central portion of the park is dominated by Mopane Colophospermum mopane, which occurs thinly as a shrub savanna along with grass, or in combination with Dichrostachys cinerea, Albizia harveyi, Acacia nigrescens and Combretum imberbe woodland, or else it occurs as a dense monospecific woodland especially on clayey soils. Small pockets of Terminalia sericea and Combretum apiculatum intrude where conditions are suitable. The rugged northern region holds Burkea africana, Pseudolachnostylis maprouneifolia, Kirkia acuminata, Adansonia digitata and Combretum apiculatum. Riparian thickets occur along all the major drainage lines. They differ in species composition and structure according to size of drainage line and the type of alluvial deposit present, main dominants are Ficus sycomorus, Acacia albida and Xanthosercis zambesiaca.

Birds

The riverine thickets constitute forest corridors, which are used by some of the forest species of the Drakensberg escarpment to the west. These birds migrate down to the lowveld to escape the severe escarpment winters. The large riverine trees also provide the only habitat for many of the more secretive river- dependent species such as Pel's Fishing Owl Scotopelia peli, Whitebacked Night Heron Gorsachius leuconotus and African Finfoot Podica senegalensis. The taller riverine trees provide nesting sites for other species, particularly raptors such as Bat Hawk Macheiramphus alcinus. The rivers, floodplains, pans, dams and vleis are important for many wetland-dependent and associated birds such as Black Stork Ciconia nigra, which breed in gorges in the nearby Lebombo mountains, Woollynecked Stork Ciconia episcopus, Openbilled Stork Anastomus lamelligerus, Saddlebilled Stork Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis and Whitecrowned Plover Vanellus albiceps. When conditions are suitable, the following wetland species occur in small numbers; Pinkbacked Pelican Pelecanus rufescens, White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus, Rufousbellied Heron Butorides rufiventris, Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber, Lesser Moorhen Gallinula angulata, Lesser Gallinule Porphyrula alleni, Lesser Jacana Microparra capensis, African Marsh Harrier Circus ranivorus, Chestnutbanded Plover Charadrius pallidus and Black Coucal Centropus bengalensis. The seasonally flooded grasslands to the north of Shingwedzi hold Corncrake Crex crex in summer.

Several wide-ranging species, which are rare outside South Africa's large national parks, are locally common in KNP; including the country's largest populations of Marabou Stork Leptoptilos crumeniferus, Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus, Whitebacked Vulture Gyps afri-canus, Lappetfaced Vulture Torgos tracheliotus, Whiteheaded Vulture Trigonoceps occipitalis, Martial Eagle Polemaetus bellicosus, Bateleur Terathopius ecudatus, Tawny Eagle Aquila rapax, Kori Bustard Ardeotis kori and Ground Hornbill Bucorvus leadbeateri. Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheres regularly forage within the park. Stanley's Bustard Neotis denhami, Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus and Grass Owl Tyto capensis occur in smaller numbers.

The varied woodland communities support Natal Francolin Francolinus natalensis, Whitethroated Robin Cossypha humeralis, Burntnecked Eremomela Eremomela usticollis, Whitebellied Sunbird Nectarinia talatala and Southern Longtailed Starling Lamprotornis mevesii.

The thicket and forest areas support the following East African Coast biome-specific species; Brownheaded Parrot Poicephalus cryptoxanthus, Gorgeous Bushshrike Telophorus quadricolor and Blackbellied Glossy Starling Lamprotornis corruscus.

The small patches of sandveld in the far northeast hold small numbers of Pinkthroated Twinspot Hypargos margaritatus and the Lala palm savanna of the northeast supports Lemonbreasted Canary Serinus citrinipectus. Near Pafuri, in the extreme north, many bird species reach the southern limit of their Afrotropical range and are consequently extremely rare within South Africa, but are considerably more common and widespread just outside the country's borders. The non- threatened subspecies of Cape Parrot Poicephalus robustus suahelicus occurs here. These species are of interest in the park and from a South African perspective, but are of little Subregional conservation significance as the populations within the park are small and peripheral.

Other threatened/endemic wildlife

The endemic and localized Eastern Purple-glossed Snake Amblyodipsas microphthalma occurs on the deep alluvial soils of the Limpopo River Valley. Other southern African endemics, such as Distant's Thread Snake Leptotyphlops distanti, Sabi Quill-snouted Snake Xenocalamus sabiensis, Sundevall's Shovel-snout Prosymna sundevallii, Two-striped Shovel-snout Prosymna bivittata, Eastern Green Snake Philothamnus natalensis, Southern Brown Egg-eater Dasy-peltis inornata, Shield-nose Snake Aspidelaps scutatus, Sundevall's Garter Snake Elpsoidea sunderwallii, Kalahari Spade-snouted Worm Lizard Monopeltis leonhardi, Giant Legless Skink Acontias plumbeus, Lowveld Dwarf Burrowing Skink Scelotes bidigittatus, Mozambique Dwarf Burrowing Skink Scelotes mossambicus, Cregoli's Blind Legless Skink Typhosaurus cregoi, Golden Blind Legless Skink Typho-saurus aurantiacus, Eastern Coastal Skink Mabuya depressa, Bluetailed Sandveld Lizard Nucras caesicaudata, Van Dam's Girdled Lizard Cordylus vandami, Spotted Dwarf Gecko Lygo- dactylus ocellatus, Van Son's Thick-toed Gecko Pachydactylus vansoni, Common Barking Gecko Ptenopus garrulus, Limpopo Dwarf Burrowing Skink Skelotes limpopoensis, De Coster's Spade-snouted Worm Lizard Monopeltis decosteri, Transvaal Flat Gecko Afroedura transvaalica, Tiger Thicktoed Gecko Pachydactylus tigrinus and Two-striped Shovel-snout Prosymna bivittata are known to occur in the park.

Endangered reptiles include the African Python Python sebae natalensis, and the Nile Crocodile Crocodylus niloticus occurs in the river. The more localized Lang's Round-headed Worm Lizard Chirindia langi, Van Dam's Round-headed Worm Lizard Zygaspis vandami and the Lowveld Flat Gecko Afroedura langi which are restricted to the Olifants River Valley.

Among the frogs, southern African endemics include Mottled Shovel-nosed Frog Hemisus marmoratus, Tinker Reed Frog Hyperolius tuberilinguis, Golden Leaf-folding Frog Afrix-alus aureus, Delicate Leaf-folding Frog Afrixalus delicatus, Dwarf Puddle Frog Phrynobatrachus mababiensis, Ornate Frog Hilderbrandtia ornata, Broadbanded Grass Frog Ptychadena mossambica, Sharpnosed Grass Frog Ptychadena oxyrhynchus, Clicking Stream Frog Strongylopus grayii, Knocking Sand Frog Tomopterna krugerensis, Russet-backed Sand Frog Tomopterna marmorata and Natal Sand Frog Tomopterna natalensis. The Shovel-footed Squeaker Arthrolepis stenodactylus is a rare resident.

Among freshwater fishes the endemic and endangered Orange-fringed Largemouth Astatotilapia brevis has been translocated into the Crocodile River system in the Kruger National Park, from its natural range in the Nkomati River system. The highly localized Lowveld Largemouth Serranochromis meridi-anus is restricted to the Sabie and Sand rivers in KNP.

Conservation issues

The perennial rivers, which form an integral part of the KNP ecosystems, all flow from the great escarpment in the west. The escarpment has suffered considerable development in the form of forestry, urbanisation, agriculture and industrial development. Increased demands have been placed on the renewable natural resources, which have led to an inevitable degradation in quantity and quality of water, siltation of the rivers and the encroachment of alien plants. Forestry has modified large portions of the Drakensberg escarpment; poor water utilization by alien plantations results in reduced run-off into the catchments of the KNP rivers. To compound damage being inflicted on these river systems, impoundments and other developments are being planned along the major rivers flowing into the park, which further threatens the remaining riverine habitat. Of the six, once perennial rivers, only the Sabie is still permanent, and reduced flow each year means that even this river may eventually dry up. The Saddlebilled Stork is dependent on extensive wetland habitat that is under increasing pressure from human influences. All but three pairs of South Africa's remaining Saddlebilled Stork breed along the threatened riverine habitat in the KNP.

The park is best known for its variety of large mammals, consisting of 23 species of herbivores and 6 species of carnivores. Owing to the proliferation of ungulates and carnivores, the park supports the healthiest scavenging bird populations in South Africa. Scavenging raptors have suffered severely from persecution and poisoning in South African farming areas in the last 100 years. Raptor numbers have declined even on properties directly adjacent to the KNP. As such, the KNP has acted as one of the last havens for these birds as they have suffered huge population declines throughout the remainder of the country. The farmer education programmes initiated during the 1980s have seen a change in attitude towards raptors. It is becoming apparent that some species are once again beginning to move out of the parks and re-establish small populations in farming land. If these birds are ever going to recover their former distribution, the KNP will act as an essential source population for most of the country. Although the park is managed primarily for the large mammal populations, several areas can be identified as being of particular importance for birds; these areas should be managed accordingly. The Banyini Floodplain, which falls just outside the park's boundary near Pafuri, is of particular interest as in wet seasons it supports excellent pans and surrounding grassy areas. The land is partially private and partially owned by the military. This valuable land should be incorporated into the park. The grasslands lying to the north of Shingwedzi are also vital for wetland species, particularly Corncrake, during years of heavy rain. The Luvuvhu, Olifants and Sabie rivers, with their associated riverine forest, are highly significant for birds. The rivers, and the associated riparian vegetation, are a very rare habitat type which support several sensitive threatened bird species. Marabou Storks are common in the KNP, almost exclusively because food is available at rest-camps' rubbish tips. They were very rare here before the camps were developed. The rubbish tips are in the process of being upgraded to prevent access by wildlife (baboons, hyaenas, warthogs etc), and Marabou Stork numbers are expected to decline here accordingly.

Further reading

Tables of relevant species follow each IBA account -Ed.

Keith Barnes
ADU