02/10/2026
An Historical insight to the KRUGER NATIONAL PARK – 100 Years of protecting our wilderness
The year 2026 marks a remarkable milestone in the story of South African conservation – 100 years since the formation of the Kruger National Park, established to what would become one of the world's great, protected conservation areas. Although the story began earlier, reaching back to the establishment of the Sabie Game Reserve in 1898, followed by the Shingwedzi Game Reserve in 1903, these areas were subsequently brought together to form the foundations of the national park we know today. Kruger Park has become synonymous with African wilderness – a place of vast horizons and ancient rivers; diverse woodland and savanna grasslands; epitomised by elephant moving through the veld, lion resting beneath thorn trees, wild dogs running silently through the bush, and leopards appearing almost magically from the shadows. Along with its extraordinary wildlife, Kruger embodies much more. Over the past 100 years it has become a remarkable centre for conservation and ecological research, contributing enormously to our understanding of African ecosystems. Generations of rangers, scientists, field researchers, conservationists and surrounding communities have all played their part in protecting this extraordinary landscape.
There is another important dimension to Kruger's conservation story. The national park does not stand alone. Along much of its western boundary, a remarkable collection of private and community conservation areas has developed alongside Kruger. Historically, many of these were private hunting properties where game was harvested during the winter months, when malaria and tsetse-fly activity was reduced. Conservation thinking in those early years was very different from that of today. Predators were often regarded as competitors for game, and their persecution was consequently widespread. I sadly have to acknowledge that my father was part of a group of friends of Marshall Campbell who gathered each winter, endeavouring to reduce the numbers of predators on his territory at MalaMala. Then came the Rattray's, who had subsequently acquired MalaMala. He turned away from this approach and instead embraced photographic tourism. Was his thinking that a single leopard or lion could be "sold" visually many times to international tourists with their cameras, whereas a hunting trophy could only be sold once? The hunting camps were converted into guest accommodation, the shooting brakes into game-drive vehicles, hunting platforms into viewing decks – and so the transformation began. The success initiated by the Rattrays was soon followed by others. Together, these developments helped shape what became the Sabi Sand Wildtuin, eventually growing into a core of 19 game farms and their lodges.
As a scholar at Durban High School, I was privileged to spend a school holiday in 1965 visiting one of these recently decommissioned hunting preserves. We were afforded the opportunity to spend the night on what had previously been a shooting platform. A carcass recovered from the veld initiated this rather unusual privilege. It was secured to the cable previously used to tie bait for hunters. A tale from my notes follows: "We climbed to the safety of the platform, along with a game guard, to ensure that all would be well. There we were left to spend the night. A leopard was the first to find our bait and promptly took hold of it. It proceeded to climb towards the platform we were on with it. Hyena were closing in, so he was not keen to share this easy picking. Not so easy, as our game guard, aroused by our anxious squeals, proceeded to beat on the tree and platform with his knobkerrie – our only form of protection. He could almost reach down to the leopard, which had stopped, confused, eyes glowering, impala hanging limply from its fearsome grip. This had the desired effect. Our leopard panicked, gave up, dropped its prospective meal, turned and departed rapidly. The hyena were on the kill in a flash – a typical case of kleptoparasitism. With much guzzling, snarling and snorting, what was left of the carcass was reduced to a few bare bones in quick time by the three seemingly ravenous spotted hyena. Quite a sighting."
We were lucky to have seen the leopard. In those days these felines were severely persecuted in the Sabi Sand and were extremely elusive. They were also rarely seen in Kruger Park. Today, through habituation and the reduction of persecution, wild leopard sightings in this region can be among the finest anywhere in the world. Quite an exciting experience for a 16-year-old – and one that provided an unexpected insight into the effectiveness of the old hunting practices!
Many of the fences separating these reserves from the national park have subsequently been removed, creating a far larger and more interconnected conservation environment. In the wider Greater Kruger landscape, fence removal has allowed wildlife to move more naturally across what were once artificial boundaries. I have attached an image of a recently erected fence between Kruger Park and the Sabi Sand Game Reserve being removed during that 1965 visit. This was prompted by a severe drought and the need to provide wildlife in the Kruger Park with access to the rivers within the adjoining private reserves. The Greater Kruger concept has consequently transformed what was once a series of separate protected areas into a landscape in which wildlife can move more naturally across historical boundaries. This is particularly significant for wide-ranging species such as elephant, wild dog, cheetah and lion, but it also benefits the wider ecological system – from large predators and herbivores to smaller mammals, birds, reptiles and insects, together with the vegetation and topography upon which everything ultimately depends.
For visitors, this connectivity can also have a fascinating influence on the experience of the bush. The private reserves adjoining Kruger, with their smaller road networks and different management approaches – and, in most cases, more limited vehicle and guest numbers – can provide opportunities to spend considerable quality time in close proximity to wildlife. Elusive predators, particularly leopard and other secretive animals, may benefit from these extensive connected habitats and from the availability of suitable refuge away from more intensively visited areas. Of course, wildlife sightings can never be guaranteed – and that unpredictability is part of what makes an African safari so compelling. What is important is that these animals are now part of a much larger functioning conservation landscape, rather than being confined to the boundaries of a single park. The result is significant not simply for safari tourism, but for conservation itself. Kruger Park and the adjoining private and community conservation areas, together, protect an extraordinary mosaic of habitats and ecological diversity, giving wildlife greater space in which to live, breed, disperse and adapt, whilst offering guests one of the most incredible wildlife experiences ever!
The terrain carries a much older story too. Kruger Park and its environs contain numerous archaeological and cultural sites, reminding us that this is far from an untouched wilderness devoid of past human life. It is a landscape deeply etched with human history.
The first tourists entered a very different Kruger Park, there was virtually no infrastructure. Guests camped rough, roads were limited. Early visitors travelled by train, ox wagon, horse and, later, motor vehicle, with roads beginning to be developed from 1927 onwards. Over the years camps emerged from the bush in favoured localities. Attached are reconstructed images of early visits to the park by my grandfather and father in 1927. My father conceded that the particular sighting would have been exceptional at that time. Then, in 1931, fuel became available inside the park – although from the photograph my grandfather seems to be patiently waiting for his resupply! And so began a family journey with Kruger that has continued across generations, instilling in us not simply a love of the Park, but a deep appreciation of the wilderness, wildlife and heritage it represents. That connection remains as strong today, shared by my wife and I, our children and grandchildren, and reflected in our creation of Far and Wild Safaris. At the heart of that involvement has always been a desire to give others the opportunity to experience this remarkable wilderness for themselves - to encounter its wildlife, understand the delicate environment in which it survives, and, through that experience, develop an appreciation for the extraordinary conservation legacy secured more than a century ago.
Today, a vast number of people around the world understand the anticipation of waiting for the gates to open, entering Kruger at first light as the bush stirs into life, and wondering what might reveal itself around the next bend. For those early visitors, however, there could be an even more tangible sense of discovery. The night having left its secrets behind, and the first evidence of unseen encounters; fresh tracks in the dust, spoor crossing the road, a drag mark or perhaps the tell-tale signs of a reptile's passage, could transform the morning drive into a detective story written across the Park's roads. In many ways, that sense of anticipation and discovery remains at the heart of the Kruger experience today. Far & Wild Safaris have always believed that experiencing Africa's wild places creates something more than memories. It creates an understanding – and with that connection comes an appreciation of the wildlife, its environment and of why these protected areas matter and why they deserve our care. So, in this centenary year, we celebrate 100 years of Kruger National Park – its wildlife, its landscapes, its varied biomes, its people, its history, and the generations who have worked to protect it. And we celebrate something even greater: the continuing expansion of the conservation ethos beyond the park's original boundaries, and the vision of protecting one large, connected African wilderness rather than a collection of isolated islands. Great strides have already been achieved, great additional venues to visit. We know.
An incredible milestone. 100 years of Kruger.
Our Heritage. Our Future. Our Wildlife! We can help you embrace it in the best way!
