THE BIRDS: IMFOLOZI HLUHLUE NATURE RESERVE

IMFOLOZI HLUHLUE NATURE RESERVE

Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park, formerly Hluhluwe–Umfolozi Game Reserve, is the oldest proclaimed nature reserve in Africa. It consists of 960 km² (96,000 ha) of hilly topography 280 kilometres

(170 mi) north of Durban in central Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is known for its rich wildlife and conservation efforts.

The park is the only state-run park in KwaZulu-Natal where all the big five game animals occur. Due to conservation efforts, the park now has the largest population of white rhino in the world.

However, the rhinos and the park's wilderness areas are now threatened by plans to build an open-cast coal mine right on the park's border, a plan that a growing coalition of organisations is fighting to stop.

Throughout the park there are many signs of Stone Age settlements. The area was originally a royal hunting ground for the Zulu kingdom, but was established as a park in 1895.

The Umfolozi and Hluhluwe reserves were established primarily to protect the white rhinoceros, then on the endangered species list.

Hluhluwe–Imfolozi was originally three separate reserves that joined under its current title in 1989.

The park is home to Africa's big five game: elephant, rhinoceros (black/hook-lipped and white/square-lipped), Cape buffalo, lion and leopard. It is home to 86 special species including:

Nile crocodile, hippo, cheetah, spotted hyena, blue wildebeest, jackal, giraffe, zebra, waterbuck, nyala, eland, kudu, impala, duiker, suni, reedbuck, common warthog, bushpig, mongoose, baboons,

monkeys, a variety of tortoises, terrapins, snakes and lizards. It is one of the world's top spots for viewing nyala. The park is a prime birding destination and is home to 340 bird species.

The Hluhluwe River Flood Plain is one of the only areas in the whole of South Africa where yellow-throated, pink-throated and orange-throated longclaw species can be seen together.

Bird life include night heron, Wahlberg's eagle, Shelley's francolin, black-bellied korhaan, Temminck's courser, Klaas's cuckoo, little bee-eater and crested barbet.

There are two main camps, namely Hilltop in Hluhlue and Mphila in Imfolozi.

This trip was particularly successful in terms of birds.