Mokala National Park

Mokala National Park IUCN Category II - National Park
Landscape of the Kalahari
location	South Africa
surface	27,500 ha
WDPA ID	555563463
Geographical location	29 ° 10 ′  S , 24 ° 21 ′  E Coordinates: 29 ° 10 ′ 0 ″  S , 24 ° 21 ′ 0 ″  E
Setup date	June 2007
administration	South African National Parks

The Mokala National Park ( English Mokala National Park ) is the youngest national park in South Africa and was inaugurated in June 2007. It is located about 75 kilometers southwest of Kimberley in the Northern Cape Province .

Mokala is a word from the Setswana ( Bantu language ) and means camel thorn tree. These trees shape a large part of its landscape.

The national park is located where the Kalahari Desert merges into the Karoo Desert . The south is characterized by the dolerite hills typical of the Karoo . Between the hills there are wide savannas and bush landscapes. In the north, however, the Kalahari dominates.

The park, initially about 19,000 hectares in size, was created as a replacement for the Vaalbos National Park , located around 100 kilometers to the north , which was closed. It was expanded to 27,500 hectares through acquisitions and today extends to the Riet River in the north. For visitors there are accommodations within the national park, from simple campsites to luxurious lodges.

fauna

White rhinoceros with offspring

Besides roan antelope , sable antelope , wildebeest , wildebeest , African buffalo , giraffes , eland , Greater Kudu , Oryx , Blesbok , Plains Zebra , Impala , hartebeest , springbok and Topi also find broad- and black rhino in the national park habitat. The Mokala National Park is a refuge and breeding area for bovid-TBC- free African buffalo. The caracal , aardvark , porcupine , cape fox , aardwolf and spoondog are also at home in Mokala National Park.

In the wetland near the mouth of the Vaal - in the Orange River , rare bird species have settled.

Web links

• South African National Parks: Mokala National Park . National park administration website at www.sanparks.org (English)
• South Africa (English)
• Mokala National Park, Northern Cape, South Africa (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Portrait of the former Vaalbos National Park at suedafrikatour.de , accessed on October 24, 2016