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Kruger National Park history

Learn more about the Kruger National Park's incredible history.

The founders of the Kruger National Park, Skukuza camp.

The rock paintings found at over 170 different locations in the Kruger National Park tell of ancient civilisations that used this wild area as their hunting grounds and home. These paintings, belonging to the San hunter-gatherers, date back several millennia. They depict hunters and a great variety of animals, including elephant, buffalo and giraffe, among others.

Bantu-speaking Iron Age civilisation came to the area from about 200 AD. From around the 13th century, a thriving trade in ivory, animal skins, gold and copper started in the region of the Kruger National Park. Trade took place with people from the Far East, who used to dock in neighbouring Mozambique before heading inland.

One of the must-visit archaeological sites in the park is Thulamela in the far north, near Pafuri.

Knowledgeable guides lead tours through Thulamela.		The ruins at Thulamela are very impressive.

Dutchman Francois de Cuiper is believed to be the first Western explorer of the Kruger National Park, but his expedition was driven from the area by local tribes. Around 1838, however, Louis Trichardt and Hans van Rensburg successfully led Voortrekker expeditions into the park and established forward outposts. During the early 1800s there was uncontrolled hunting throughout the Lowveld region, of which the Kruger National Park forms part, and huge quantities of wildlife were killed.

Although South African hunting laws were finally introduced in 1858, these didn't stop the wildlife slaughter. Fortunately, in 1898, the Sabi Game Reserve was established between the Crocodile and Sabie Rivers. The proclamation was signed by Paul Kruger, the president of the former Transvaal Republic. The reserve was established in the hope that it would control hunting and protect the great diversity and numbers of animals that roamed the area. Later, the Shingwedzi Reserve was created to the north of the Sabi Game Reserve.

James Stevenson-Hamilton was appointed as the first warden of the Sabi Game Reserve in 1902, just after the Anglo Boer War. His duty was to protect the land and its wildlife, and to remove any inhabitants from the reserve, including local tribes. His determination helped to pass the National Parks Act in 1926, and in 1927 the first tourist vehicles explored the brand-new Kruger National Park, which consisted of the former Sabi and Shingwedzi game reserves. (It was also known as the Transvaal Game Reserve for a while.) Stevenson-Hamilton  ended up staying in the park for 40  years.

The tourist industry in the Kruger National Park exploded and by the mid-1900s over 10 000 people visited the park each year. More roads were built, camps were added and the park boundary was fenced. In more recent years, annual visitors numbers have exceeded one million. Some fences have been removed between the Kruger National Park and neighbouring reserves, forming what is now referred to by many as the Greater Kruger Park. In 2002, the Kruger National Park was also incorporated into the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park, along with Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe and Limpopo National Park in Mozambique.