South Africa's Fabulous National Parks

South Africa has 19 national parks of which the two featured in this gallery are the Kruger National Park and the Addo Elephant National Park.

First protected in 1898 and formally established in 1926, Kruger is South Africa's oldest and largest national park, which borders Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Spread over nearly 20,000 square kilometres in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, it extends 360 km from north to south and 65 km from east to west. Kruger is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a peace park linked to the Limpopo national park in Mozambique and the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe. Kruger National Park reports the presence of 147 mammal species, the most for any park in Africa, and include the Big Five -- African Elephant, Black Rhino, Cape Buffalo, Lion and Leopard. Kruger National Park also has 517 species of birds and 114 species of reptiles including 3,000 crocodiles. Entry to the park is through nine gates.

Addo Elephant National Park is South Africa's third largest national park and is located close to Port Elizabeth. Established in 1931, the park has 450 elephants, 400 Cape Buffalo, about 48 endangered black rhinos and a number of antelope species including impala, kudu, nyala and gazelle.