World Environment Day is on 5 June 2012 and the theme for 2012 is a Green Economy.  How does this affect your life?

Never heard of the tree-climbing lions of Crocodile Bridge? Neither had Lourens Durand.

On 22 March 2012, I was driving west on the H5, 3 km from the main Crocodile Bridge/ Lower Sabie Road, when I came across a pride of 13 lions: one male, three females and nine cubs. Most were in the road, but five of the cubs were playing in a small tree.

How do you distinguish a poisonous snake, scorpion or spider from one that is harmless? Below is a quick guide to the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Mapungubwe Interpretive Centre is an impressive but curious looking building built with the intention of merging the natural location with the park’s cultural heritage, but using modern environmentally sensitive techniques. It is so impressive that the year it was constructed (2009), it won the World Architectural Building of the Year Award.  Rather fitting for a World Heritage Site.

Seven of the eleven species of vulture that occur in Africa are listed in the IUCN Red Data Book.

By André Botha, Birds of Prey Programme Manager, Endangered Wildlife Trust

How do you distinguish a poisonous snake, scorpion or spider from one that is harmless? Below is a quick guide to the good, the bad and the ugly.

 

Mapungubwe’s Leokwe Camp is a very special place, with an atmosphere unlike any other camp in all SANParks. It is almost like there is a higher presence there... an aura of great power. Perhaps it is the watchful gaze of the often-hidden surrounding wildlife... rock hyrax, klipspringer, baboon or the elusive leopard. Or maybe it is something less understood – the spirit of the ancestors of a once great civilisation that thrived nearby. 

Philip and Roz Wood recently stayed at the Karoo National Park on their way back from Cape Town to Johannesburg and got to see some fantastic sightings ...