The Kruger National Park was first established by the President of the Transvaal, Paul Kruger, in 1898. Realising that the Lowveld animals needed to be protected, the area between the Sabie and Crocodile Rivers was set aside for restricted hunting in 1884. Kruger’s revolutionary plan only fully came to fruition in 1898 when the Sabie Game Reserve was established (later to be renamed the Kruger National Park).

When Scottish-born James Stevenson-Hamilton was appointed as the first Warden of the park in 1902, it was still known as the Sabie Game Reserve. The Sabie Game Reserve was merged with the Shinwedzi Game Reserve in 1927 and became the Kruger National Park. The surface area of the park is 19,633 square kilometres and plays host to more than 753 species of animal and 1982 species of plants in the park. There are 254 known cultural heritage sites in the Kruger, including 130 rock art sites.

Homo erectus roamed the area about 500 000 years ago and cultural artefacts from 100 000 to 30 000 years ago have been found and confirmed. More than 300 archaeological sites of Stone Age humans have been found, making the Kruger National Park a place of great history. Significant archaeological ruins can be found at Thulamela and Masorini and are well worth seeing, while there are numerous examples of San Rock Art scattered through the park and worthy of exploration.

In more recent times the San (Bushmen) and Iron Age peoples lived in the area about 1500 years ago making way for the Nguni people of further North and the European explorers and settlers who arrived in the 19th century.

The southern part of the park along the Sabie and Crocodile river is rich in water and has a lot of game viewing opportunities. Here you can see the best of African flora and fauna such as Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Rhinos, Buffalos often referred as the big five, but there are plenty of others to see as well. The northern part of the park supports less flora and fauna and is often referred as the birding paradise.

Currently, the park is run by the South African National Parks (SANP) and is probably the best managed African National Park. Wildlife conservation, education and tourism are the main objectives of the KNP. Effective measures to prevent poaching are in place and as a result of this cars