Tankwa Karoo National Park


Tankwa Karoo National Park is a national park in South Africa. The park lies about 70 km west of Sutherland and along the border of the Northern Cape and Western Cape in Succulent Karoo habitat; a biodiversity hotspot and one of the most arid regions of South Africa.
Before the park's proclamation, the only protected area of Succulent Karoo was the 2 square kilometre patch of the Gamkaberg Nature Reserve. Succulent Karoo has, together with the Cape Floral Kingdom, been declared a biodiversity hotspot by Conservation International.

Geography

It is bounded on the east by the Roggeveld Mountains, on the west by the Cederberg, to the north by the Kouebokkeveld Mountains and on the south by the scattered foothills of the Koedoesberge and Klein Roggeveld Mountains, and the Tankwa River. The park's headquarters are located at Roodewerf. Distances from the nearest towns to the park's headquarters are: Ceres, Sutherland, Calvinia and Middelpos.

History

In 1998 Conrad Strauss sold 280 km2 of sheep farm to the South African National Parks. Tankwa's area has been increased from an initial 270 km2 to 1463 km2.

Climate

Some areas receive less than 100 mm of average annual precipitation, moisture-bearing clouds from the Atlantic Ocean being largely stopped by the Cederberg mountains.
Other low areas receive little more, as the Roodewerf station with 180 mm of mean annual rainfall. In the hottest areas of the park, the mean maximum temperature in January is 38.9 °C, and in July the mean minimum temperature ranges from about 5 to 7 °C.

Biodiversity

The park has started the reintroduction of game that used to be found naturally in the area. Research was done beforehand to ensure that introduced animals would survive on the overgrazed veld. The vegetation in the park falls within the Succulent Karoo biome and has been described as very sparse shrubland and dwarf shrubland. Several unique succulent genera occur here, such as Tanquana, Braunsia and Didymaotus. The park is home to a large variety of birds, such as the black-headed canary, Ludwig's bustard, and the black-eared sparrow-lark. Peak birding season is August to October.

List of mammals

The park's bird list currently includes 187 bird species. Birds found in the park include: