Ithala Game Reserve

Ithala Game Reserve
Ithala Game Reserve
	Giraffe amid mountainous terrain in Ithala
	Location of the reserve in KwaZulu-Natal
Location	KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Nearest city	Durban, South Africa
Coordinates	27°32′48″S 31°18′49″E / 27.546705°S 31.313532°E
Area	290 km2 (110 sq mi)
Established	1973
Governing body	Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife

Ithala Game Reserve is situated in 290 km² of rugged, mountainous thornveld, about 400 km north of Durban, in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is one of the youngest game parks in South Africa. The altitude varies from 400 m along the Phongolo River to 1,450 m along the Ngotshe Mountain escarpment. The reserve consequently encompasses a great variation of terrain, from densely vegetated river valleys and lowveld to sourveld, high-lying grassland plateaus, mountain ridges and cliff faces.

Game

Grazers include impala, red hartebeest, tsessebe, blue wildebeest, eland and reedbuck. With the exception of reedbuck, these species have been observed to produce young seasonally around November to December in Ithala, when ample green forage is available.^[1] The browsers include duiker, bushbuck, nyala, kudu, giraffe and zebra, which deliver their young at any time of the year.^[1]

Reintroductions

All the big game species have been re-established with the exception of lion. Locally extinct red-billed oxpeckers were reintroduced from the Kruger Park, c. 1994, when 175 birds were released.^[1]

Plants

This reserve is likely the only place in KwaZulu-Natal where the rare tree Protea comptonii grows.^[2]

History

In the late 1800s land was given by King Dinizulu to boer farmers.
In 1973 the then Natal Parks Board started buying up farms in this area to make up this Reserve.

Trivia

There are two abandoned gold mines in Ithala.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Dames, Koos (2013). Bykans 70 jaar se onthou... pp. 25, 50.
^ Rebelo, A.G.; Mtshali, H.; von Staden, L. (19 August 2019). "Saddleback Sugarbush". Red List of South African Plants. version 2020.1. South African National Biodiversity Institute. Retrieved 14 September 2020.

External links

[dames-1] Dames, Koos (2013). Bykans 70 jaar se onthou... pp. 25, 50.

[SANBI-2] Rebelo, A.G.; Mtshali, H.; von Staden, L. (19 August 2019). "Saddleback Sugarbush". Red List of South African Plants. version 2020.1. South African National Biodiversity Institute. Retrieved 14 September 2020.

[1]

[2]

v t e Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife Parks
Individual Parks	Amatikulu Nature Reserve Beachwood Mangroves Blinkwater Nature Reserve Bluff Nature Reserve Chelmsford Nature Reserve Dlinza Forest EMakhosini Ophathe Heritage Park Enseleni Nature Reserve Entumeni Forest Harold Johnson Nature Reserve Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park Impendle Nature Reserve Ithala Game Reserve Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve Krantzkloof Nature Reserve Midmar Dam Nature Reserve Mpenjati Nature Reserve Ndumo Game Reserve Nkandla Forest North Park Nature Reserve ONgoye Forest Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve Phongolo Nature Reserve Skyline Nature Reserve Spioenkop Dam Nature Reserve Tembe Elephant Park Umhlanga Lagoon Nature Reserve Umlalazi Nature Reserve Umtamvuna Nature Reserve Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve Vryheid Hill Nature Reserve Wagendrift Nature Reserve Weenen Game Reserve Queen Elizabeth Park Nature Reserve
uKhahlamba–Drakensberg Park	Cathedral Peak Cobham Reserve Garden Castle Highmoor Nature Reserve Himeville Nature Reserve Lotheni Reserve Mkhomazi Reserve Monks Cowl Nature Reserve Mount Currie Nature Reserve Royal Natal National Park
iSimangaliso Wetland Park	Cape Vidal State Forest Coastal Forest Reserve False Bay Park Eastern Shores State Forest Mapelane Nature Reserve Nyalazi State Forest Maputaland Marine Protected Area Lake Sibayi Freshwater Reserve Sodwana Bay National Park Sodwana State Forest St Lucia Game Reserve St Lucia Park St Lucia Marine Reserve uMkhuze Game Reserve

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	United States