Madikwe Game Reserve

Madikwe Game Reserve has its roots in the political history of South Africa. During the apartheid years, the South African government created self-governing homelands for indigenous people - one of these was an area named Bophuthatswana. Economists realized that the area would serve its people better economically if they transformed the cattle farms into a wildlife reserve. This process started in 1991. The result is a model for what conservation can do. Bop Parks, as it was known, established a model where the Bop Government managed the land and wildlife while the private sector built lodges and the local community received employment and income.

Bop Parks launched Operation Phoenix in 1991 and started re-populating the reserve with animals that used to occur here. By 1997, more than 8 000 animals were re-introduced to the 75 000 hectare reserve.

All the Big Five animals occur here. Enormous herds of elephants and buffalo are commonplace. The reserve has both the black and white rhinoceros, with the white rhino relatively common and the much rarer black rhino seen occasionally. Lions are frequently seen, and there is also an excellent chance to spot the elusive leopard. A highlight of this wilderness is the wild dogs that are now common in the reserve and have become habituated to the game viewers. It allows for fantastic close-up photos of this endangered animal. Another animal not seen often elsewhere is the brown hyena.

Madikwe boasts 66 large mammal species. Cheetahs occur, and there is always a chance of spotting the fastest land mammal in the world. Plenty of giraffes and zebra make for brilliant photography against majestic backdrops. Hippos are common, as are antelope such as springbok, gemsbok, eland, and sable. You might come across a black-backed jackal or even spot the rare pangolin. Birds are abundant, with more than 300 species recorded; notable species are the yellow-billed hornbill and lilac-breasted roller.

The Madikwe Game Reserve encompasses a diverse range of terrains which include mountains, seasonal wetlands, bushveld, savanna, Kalahari veld, and thornveld, to name but a few. The reserve is still very young, and the farming and hunting activities on the land severely damaged the natural ecosystems and vegetation that occurred naturally. The reserve's success with Operation Phoenix has seen a miraculously quick recovery in terms of both animal and vegetative species that belong in the area.

The park is home to various geological formations that, over millions of years, created a multifaceted basis on which the different vegetation types grow. The terrain can, to a large extent, be classified as open grasslands and bushveld, which include mixed bushveld, Kalahari bushveld, arid sweet bushveld, and turf thornveld. Madikwe and the nearby Pilanesberg Game Reserve have teamed up to conserve the natural environment further by creating a natural corridor between the reserves.