The Addo National Park

Deep within the shadows of the dense valley bushveld of the Sundays River region of the Eastern Cape lies the Addo Elephant National Park.

Here, the evenings are punctuated by the strident howl of the black-backed jackal, and the francolin's call heralds each new dawn. Safe from relentless persecution in the past, the grey leviathans of the bush now roam in peace. The original Elephant section of the park was proclaimed in 1931, when only eleven elephants remained in the area - today this finely tuned ecosystem is a sanctuary to over 450 elephants, Cape buffalo,lion, black rhino, a variety of antelope species, as well as the unique flightless dung beetle, found almost exclusively in Addo.

And their Addo has only just begun, with plans to expand the  164 000 ha Addo National Elephant Park into a 360 000 ha mega-park. In addition, plans include the proposed proclamation of a 120 000 ha (296 500 acre) marine reserve that includes islands that are home to the world's largest breeding populations of Cape gannets and second largest breeding population of African penguins.

Wildlife Experience

This park offers some of the most spectacular elephant viewing in the world. Addo’s over 450 elephants will delight visitors with their antics.

The park contributes to the conservation of the endangered black rhino with over 48 of these animals occurring here.

The over 400 Cape buffalo are now being seen more often during the day due to the influence of lion reintroduction. This is one of the largest disease-free herds in South Africa.

Lions were introduced into the park in late 2003 and have adapted well to their new environment growing to three wonderful prides. Lions are most often seen in the early morning or on sunset and night drives.

Spotted hyenas were also reintroduced in 2003, fulfilling the same role as lions in restoring the natural balance to the ecosystems in the park by controlling the numbers of herbivores.
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Leopard are very seldom seen, being shy and secretive animals, but do occur in most areas of the expanded park.

Antelope species abundant in the main game area of the park include red hartebeest, eland, kudu and bushbuck.

The Burchell’s zebra, many with the pale rumps reminiscent of the extinct qwagga, occur in the park.

Warthogs are abundant.

The rare flightless dung beetle is king of the road in Addo, with signs warning visitor that this recycling machine has right of way. The beetles are only seen when conditions are not too hot and not too cold and play an important role in recycling nutrients and helping the growth of thicket vegetation.

The outlying areas of the park have very different animals on offer:

Zuurberg mountain range is home to the Cape mountain zebra, mountain reedbuck, baboons, blue duiker, aardwolf and red rock rabbit.

Hippos are found in the Sundays River which flows at the base of these mountains. Endemics such as the red fin minnow and yellowfish are found in the tributaries of the river.

Gemsbok, black wildebeest, springbok, buffalo and black rhino are found in the arid nama-karoo around the Darlington Dam area. Once this area has been consolidated, cheetah and wild dog will be introduced.

The coastal forest is home to bushbuck, bushpig, brown hyena and the rare tree dassie.