Atherstone Nature Reserve

Atherstone Collaborative Nature Reserve
Atherstone Nature Reserve
Map
LocationSouth Africa
Nearest cityDwaalboom
Coordinates24°34.491′S 26°47.112′E / 24.574850°S 26.785200°E / -24.574850; 26.785200
Area23,500 hectares (235 km2)
Established1994
Governing bodyManagement Authority is a collaboration between LEDET and Private Land Owners

Atherstone Collaborative Nature Reserve, also known as the Atherstone Nature Reserve,[1] is a 23,500 hectare reserve situated near Dwaalboom in Limpopo, a province of South Africa. The reserve consists mainly of vast savannah plains with bushveld and Kalahari grasslands ecosystems. Besides antelope, zebra and giraffes, the south-central black rhinoceros and African bush elephants are some of the highlights of Atherstone.[2][3]

History

Norman Edward Atherstone, who was originally a cattle farmer, became the first game farmer in this area and did much to re-introduce some game on his farmland, which was to become Atherstone Game Reserve. He never had a wife nor children and, in his last will, he donated his farms to the former Transvaal Nature Conservation Department. In 1990 the Atherstone Nature Reserve was founded; it became the Atherstone Collaborative Nature Reserve in 1994, after some private farms were also incorporated into the reserve.

Animals

The following list of animals were taken from a pamphlet of the nature reserve and from iNaturalist observations.[4]

Common animal species found in the reserve:

Buffalo Caracal Cheetah Duiker–grey Eland Elephant
Gemsbuck Genet Giraffe Hartebeest-red Hyena–brown Impala
Jackal-black-backed Kudu Leopard Monkey-vervet Rhino-black Rhino-white
Sable antelope Steenbok Tsessebe Warthog Waterbuck Wildebeest-blue
Zebra

Common bird species found in the reserve:

Ostrich Hamerkop Hadeda ibis African spoonbill Whitefaced duck Knobbilled duck
Egyptian goose Secretary bird Cape vulture Lappet-faced vulture White-backed vulture Tawny eagle
Wahlberg's eagle Martial eagle Brown snake eagle Black-breasted snake eagle Bateleur African fish eagle
Dark chanting goshawk Gabar goshawk Crested francolin Swainson's francolin Common quail Melba finch
Helmeted guineafowl Blue waxbill Violet-eared waxbill White-browed sparrow weaver Paradise whydah Kori bustard
Lesser masked weaver Black korhaan Redcrested korhaan Crowned plover Blacksmith plover Spotted dikkop
Double-banded sandgrouse Rock pigeon Red-eyed dove Cape turtle dove Laughing dove Namaqua dove
Green-spotted dove Grey loerie Jacobin cuckoo Diederik cuckoo Burchell's coucal Barn owl
White-faced owl Pearl-spotted owlet Flernecked nightjar Rufous-cheeked nightjar European bee-eater Little bee-eater
Blue-cheeked bee-eater European roller Purple roller Lilac-breasted roller Hoopoe Grey hornbill
Southern yellow-billed hornbill Southern red-billed hornbill Pied barbet European swallow Fork-tailed drongo Pied crow
Brown-hooded kingfisher Titbabbler Puffback Long-billed crombec Wattled starling Burchell's starling
Groundscraper thrush Marico sunbird Red-billed oxpecker

See also

References

  1. ^ "Transvaal Provincial Gazette dated 1994-04-22 number 4995". Gazettes Africa. Laws.Africa. 22 April 1994. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  2. ^ Seloana, M. Q.; Potgieter, M. J.; Kruger, J. W.; Jordaan, J. J.; Seloana, M. Q. (21 June 2017). "Elephant Management Plan Outputs". Insights of Forest Research. 1 (1). doi:10.36959/948/458.
  3. ^ Seloana, Makoshane Q.; Jordaan, Jorrie J.; Potgieter, Martin J.; Kruger, Johan W. (September 2018). "Feeding patterns of elephants at the Atherstone Collaborative Nature Reserve". African Journal of Ecology. 56 (3): 445–454. doi:10.1111/aje.12422.
  4. ^ "Place: Atherstone Collaborative Nature Reserve, NP, ZA". iNaturalist. iNaturalist.org. Retrieved 29 November 2023.

Further reading