Kruger2Canyons.com

SKUKUZA- Day visitors to the Kruger National Park (KNP) will no longer be able to book their entry as this will be done on a strict first come, first served basis.

"We decided to do away with this day visit booking system as it created logistical problems and was considered unfair by many of our visitors", commented the Park's Director of Public Relations, Mr William Mabasa.

Gate quotas will still be enforced, particularly over busy periods like the upcoming Easter Weekend, so it is suggested that members of the public get to their gate of choice as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

"We will honour those bookings already made for this coming weekend as long as the people that made them arrive before 9am at the gate specified on the day specified", added Mr Mabasa.

KNP gate quotas are based on considerations like the amount of tourist infrastructure in the vicinity of the gate, environmental impact and various other conservation reasons. Gate quotas do not affect guests with overnight accommodation bookings.

The KNP has ten entrance gates: Crocodile Bridge, Malelane, Numbi, Phabeni, Paul Kruger, Orpen, Phalaborwa, Punda Maria, Pafuri and Giriyondo.

The current quotas for day visitors are (# people NOT vehicles, by gate):

Pafuri – 300, Punda Maria – 300, Phalaborwa – 500, Orpen – 500, Kruger – 500, Phabeni – 500, Numbi – 500, Malelane – 500, Crocodile Bridge – 300 and Giriyondo – 300.

Labels: crocodile bridge, giriyondo, kruger, orpen, paul kruger, phabeni, Phalaborwa, punda maria

JOHANNESBURG- South Africa's animal authorities are battling an outbreak of a killer disease near the Kruger National Park in the country's northern Limpopo province, the Department of Agriculture has said.

The department said the foot-and-mouth-disease (FMD) outbreak was inside a buffer zone around the tourist attraction set up to prevent the spread of the virus from the park, where it is endemic and permanently carried by the African buffalo.

"An outbreak of FMD was confirmed in cattle at the Matiani dipping tank next to the Punda Maria Gate of the Kruger National Park," the department said in a statement.

The locality is in the far northeast of the country near the point where the borders of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe converge.

The highly contagious, killer virus was observed in late July and has since been confirmed by a state laboratory. Eleven of a herd of 35 cattle were infected.

One of the diseases most dreaded by livestock owners, foot and mouth is a highly contagious viral infection that affects pigs, cattle, sheep and goats. It does not however affect humans.

"The authorities expect that the situation can be brought under control rapidly without undue effects on the agricultural industry as a whole," the department added.

Control measures in the area have been intensified and no cloven-hoof animals or their products may leave the area.

"The detection of positive cases in the buffer zone do not affect the status of South Africa's FMD free zone without vaccination, as recognised by the International Office of Epizootics (Animal World Health Organisation), and thus do not affect the export status of the country," the department added.

"In line with the protocol, this case has been reported to the OIE."

Labels: disease, foot and mouth, great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, northern kruger, punda maria

HOEDSPRUIT (Kruger Times)- Punda Maria, in the far north of the Kruger National Park (KNP), has been undergoing a series of upgrades over the last few years.

The latest additions to the camp are two new fully-equipped self-catering family houses, which opened in the restcamp in April.

The houses offer a home away from home for a family of six. All rooms are tastefully decorated in rich earthy tones to echo the bush atmosphere. A fully-equipped kitchen and braai facilities give a choice of dining options, while the living room adds to the sense of a home, rather than simply accommodation.

One of the main priorities while building these houses was to make them accessible to handicapped people. Punda also offers accommodation in the form of seven luxurious safari tents, equipped with every creature comfort. All the tents have a beautiful room that sleeps two, a bathroom with an open air shower and a combined kitchen and braai area.

Private viewing decks extend off each unit and the tent sites allow guests complete solitude and serenity, when not bird watching or driving through the Kruger. A rock pool in the camp offers the option of a cooling dip before relaxing around the campfire. Despite the upgrades, Punda still retains its feeling of isolation and being truly in the heart of the bush.

by Melissa Wray, Kruger Times

Labels: northern kruger, northern wilderness walking safari, punda maria, restcamps

JOHANNESBURG- More than R32 million will be spent on improvements to the Kruger National Park over the next few months, a spokesperson for the Park said on Friday.

"The developments and upgrades will include camps, day-visitor areas, reception buildings, entrance gates and facilities for scientific research at various locations throughout the two-million-hectare National Park," spokesperson Raymond Travers said in a statement.

The money will come from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

River-view accommodation units will be upgraded and the Keartlands guest house will be rebuilt at the Lower Sabie main camp, while the sewage works at the camp will also be upgraded.

The Orpen camp and entrance gate will be developed to the tune of R4.5 million. Existing accommodation units will be upgraded and a new day visitors' area will be created. A new swimming pool and reception building are also on the cards.

At Satara main camp, development and construction worth R10.4 million is planned.

A day visitors' site and swimming pool will be added, while the caravan park and some of the accommodation units will be upgraded.

The Frankel guest house, which was destroyed by a fire, is also to be rebuilt.

The sewage works and oxidation plant will also be upgraded.

Letaba main camp will get a facelift of about R4.5 million.

Construction of a new day visitors' site and swimming pool has already started, Travers said.

"The camp itself will also receive a new swimming pool."

Phalaborwa entrance gate will be upgraded and an office complex and research facility added. These upgrades will cost R5.8 million.

Shingwedzi main camp's tourist accommodation will see upgrades worth R1.6 million, and Punda Maria camp will receive accommodation upgrades worth about R500,000.

Some of the work has already started and most of it will be completed in the next year, Travers said.

Labels: letaba, lower sabie, orpen, Phalaborwa, punda maria, restcamps, SANParks, shingwedzi

Bovine tuberculosis, a highly contagious disease among buffalo in the Kruger National Park, has increased in the park's southern and central regions over the past six years.

A census in 1998 found that the southern region had the highest infection rate at 38% of buffalo tested for the disease, but this has since gone up to 43%. The increase is even higher in the central region, where it has increased from 16% to 25%. In the Satara area, 10% of healthy animals are infected annually.

American scientists are now helping to research the spread of the disease. The project is funded by the United States National Science Foundation and started in 2001.

Scientists from both the University of Berkeley in California and the University of Pretoria are working with Park officials to track the infected buffalo.

The Kruger project was chosen because buffalo move freely over a wide geographical area, but are still within a controlled area.

Between 80 and 90 buffalo in the central region of the park have been fitted with radio collars and have been found to move as far north as Punda Maria, while some have been spotted in the neighbouring Manyeleti and Klaserie Game Reserves.

Evidence suggests that bovine TB entered Kruger in the early 60s when there were outbreaks in the cattle population along the southern border of the Park.

Buffalo are not the only species that can be infected with bovine TB. Since 1990 it has also been found in lions, leopards, cheetahs, kudus and chacma baboons in the park.

In Buffalo and grazers, the disease is spread through breathing, sneezing and saliva, while predators get it by eating infected animals.

Kruger Park Times

Labels: central kruger, disease, klaserie, manyeleti, punda maria, southern kruger, tuberculosis