Marakele National Park
Encyclopedia
Marakele National Park is a National Park
that is part of the Waterberg Biosphere
in Limpopo Province, South Africa
.
s and 250 species of birds. The Matlabas River runs through the park.
. Marakele was founded as Kransberg National Park in 1994 with the purchase of 150 square kilometres (57.9 sq mi), and was shortly after renamed to its current name. By 1999, the park had expanded to 670 square kilometres (258.7 sq mi).
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
that is part of the Waterberg Biosphere
Waterberg Biosphere
The Waterberg Biosphere is a massif of approximately 15,000 square kilometers in north Limpopo Province, South Africa. Waterberg is the first region in the northern part of South Africa to be named as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. The extensive rock formation was shaped by hundreds of millions of...
in Limpopo Province, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
Flora and fauna
The park is accessible to all passenger vehicles, with the camp and tent sites on good roads. Also, approximately 80km of roads within the park are accessible to all vehicles, the balance requiring a four wheel drive vehicle. Marakele is home to the big five as well as sixteen species of antelopeAntelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
s and 250 species of birds. The Matlabas River runs through the park.
History
The area now constituting Marakele was home to several iron-age settlements which are not yet open to public viewing. Previous to its foundation as a National Park, it was home to naturalist Eugene MaraisEugene Marais
Eugène Nielen Marais was a South African lawyer, naturalist, poet and writer.- His early years, before and during the Boer War :Marais was born in Pretoria, the thirteenth and last child of his parents, Jan Christiaan Nielen Marais and Catharina Helena Cornelia van Niekerk...
. Marakele was founded as Kransberg National Park in 1994 with the purchase of 150 square kilometres (57.9 sq mi), and was shortly after renamed to its current name. By 1999, the park had expanded to 670 square kilometres (258.7 sq mi).