Kruger National Park: Conservation in changing times

As I headed to South Africa, I carried with me a host of preconceptions largely shaped by my previous experiences in other African countries. During the two-week trip I found that these ideas were challenged again and again.

Our adventure began in Kruger National Park, where we stayed in an exclusive eco-resort — an epitome of luxury amid the wilderness. From our private pool, we could gaze down into the valley where hippos wallowed in the river, a fish eagle hunted for food, and elephants meandered by. Only an electric fence separated us from this extraordinary scene.

Some of the encounters were close up, as with the monkeys in the trees at the lodge, and some, although distant, gave a tingle down the spine, as when watching the sea eagles:

During the day, we drove through the park, scanning the landscape for wildlife, stopping for photographs or simply to watch. The impala initially caused excitement:

But after a while we realised there were herds and herds of them! So the photo to get was a kudu, or then one with a bird on its back!

I had a lot of fun photographing the zebra, especially when they stared back at me. I tried to capture some of their interactions with each other:

And of course. the giraffes were majestic, so elegant as they swayed by:

The range of animals easy to spot from the road surprised me. The baboons were so entertaining:

Even the warthogs and the hyenas:

and lucky enough to see the co-existence of iconic species, such as this image with hippo, crocodile and elephant!

We also saw a lot of birds too, but mostly in flight! These sat still for me!

We were lucky to spot a Southern Ground Hornbill, although at nearly four feet tall with a bright red face, it’s hard to miss! Our ranger explained that these birds raise just one chick every 3–9 years. Even though the female lays two eggs, only one survives, and the whole family group works together to raise that single chick. Their slow breeding, along with habitat loss and persecution, has left them listed as “Vulnerable.”

They may not be part of the 'Big Five', but hornbills play a quiet yet crucial role in keeping insect numbers in check—another reason conservation efforts are so important to ensure they remain part of Kruger’s fragile and interconnected ecosystem.

One disappointment though was that our only lion sighting, although an amazing experience, was just too far away to get a decent image:

and we got a first tantalising glimpse of a leopard, just snoozing in the brush.

As I soaked up these incredible experiences, I found myself wondering: does such tourism truly benefit the park’s conservation priorities, or does it, in some way, harm them? Kruger is one of Africa’s oldest national parks. It was formally established in 1927, after the land was first set aside in 1898 by President Paul Kruger, a passionate conservationist alarmed by rampant hunting. His contribution is marked with a statue at one of the gates:

Covering nearly two million hectares — roughly the size of Wales — the park stands as a testament to his early conservation vision. Yet its creation came at a cost: the Tsonga people were displaced from their ancestral lands when it was established.

Over a century later, despite rigorous anti-poaching efforts, all of the famed “Big Five” — lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and Cape buffalo — are now considered endangered. How, after so many decades of protection, have we reached this point?

In 2000, the park opened its doors to private businesses to help generate sustainable income. Eco-lodges, shops, and restaurants began to appear within its boundaries. From just 27 guests in three vehicles in 1927, Kruger now welcomes around 950,000 visitors each year — all crisscrossing the park’s network of roads, eager for their unique encounter with Africa’s wildlife. And we saw these encounters at first hand:

Kruger, like many protected areas worldwide, is also facing growing threats from climate breakdown. Rangers spoke of increasingly erratic rainfall, severe floods, prolonged droughts, and rising temperatures. These changes are reshaping the ecosystem and reducing the park’s capacity to support wildlife (Dikgang et al., 2020).

Tourism itself is also vulnerable. Kruger is a cornerstone of South Africa’s tourism industry, providing vital revenue and supporting more than 10,000 jobs in an area of widespread poverty (Mail & Guardian, 2024). Any decline in visitors would have serious economic consequences for local communities.

On our last day we were alerted to a kill close to the entrance to the park. A leopard with its prey drew huge crowds. And I confess to also being fascinated, watching the cat tearing the impala apart, and the subsequent arrival of the second leopard was an extra treat:

As much as I loved watching the herd of elephants traverse the valley, I couldn’t help noticing the toll they took on the trees. One ranger voiced concern about their numbers: from just a handful in 1900, there are now over 30,000 elephants in the park — far beyond its estimated carrying capacity of about 7,000. We saw many young ones, a sign of a thriving population that, paradoxically, poses a challenge for the ecosystem.

Some elephants have been relocated to other parks to relieve pressure on Kruger, but most reserves are already at capacity. Further research revealed, however, that elephants are vital to maintaining ecological balance — they open up dense vegetation, disperse seeds, and even help mitigate climate change impacts. Interestingly, the creation of artificial waterholes — initially intended to enhance wildlife viewing for tourists — concentrated elephant activity and caused overgrazing. The park has since begun removing many of these waterholes to encourage more natural movement patterns.

As Sam Ferreira of South African National Parks eloquently puts it:

“Kruger’s elephants show us that conservation isn’t a formula — it’s a dance. A dance between science, history, and nature itself. The real question isn’t just how many elephants Kruger can handle — it’s how we, as caretakers of this planet, choose to live alongside these amazing animals.”

And that’s why looking after the environment is so important. It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of spotting animals, but the park itself was just as breathtaking—a soft, shifting palette of colours that changed with the rising and setting sun. Every part of this place, from the smallest insect to the wide open plains, plays a role in keeping Kruger thriving.

Standing there, watching the elephants against the backdrop of the setting sun, I realized that Kruger is more than a park — it’s a living experiment in how humanity and nature might coexist in an increasingly fragile world.

Here is a link to more reading on the conflicting demands of tourism and conservation and on the issues with traffic and overcrowding.

We weren’t fortunate enough to see any rhinos during our stay, but there is good news. In 2024, 120 white rhinos from a farmed herd were successfully rewilded, and they are doing well. This marks the beginning of an ambitious project to return 2,000 rhinos to the wild. It offers real hope for the future of these critically endangered animals. And if people’s desire to see rhinos roaming free helps fund the initiative, perhaps the impacts of tourism are a necessary element of conservation.

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