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Tankwa Karoo National Park

Coordinates: 32°15′S 19°45′E / 32.250°S 19.750°E / -32.250; 19.750
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Karoo National Park.
"Tankwa Karoo" redirects here. For the papyrus boat used on Lake Tana in Ethiopia, see Tankwa. For the river in Ethiopia, see Tanqwa.

Tankwa Karoo National Park
Springboks in Tankwa Karoo National Park
Map
Location of the park
LocationNorthern Cape, South Africa
Nearest cityCeres
Coordinates32°15′S 19°45′E / 32.250°S 19.750°E / -32.250; 19.750
Area1,436 km2 (554 sq mi)[1]
Established1986
Governing bodySouth African National Parks
www.sanparks.org/parks/tankwa-karoo
Tankwa Karoo National Park is located in South Africa
Tankwa Karoo National Park
Tankwa Karoo National Park (South Africa)

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.[2]

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

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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.[3] The park's headquarters are located at Roodewerf. Distances from the nearest towns to the park's headquarters are: Ceres (180 km), Sutherland (120 km), Calvinia (110 km) and Middelpos (52 km).[4]

History

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Satellite image of the park, with its boundaries highlighted

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 260 km2 to 1436 km2.[5]

Climate

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Some areas receive less than 100 mm of average annual precipitation,[6] moisture-bearing clouds from the Atlantic Ocean being largely stopped by the Cederberg mountains.

Other low areas receive little more, as the Roodewerf station (co-ordinates: 32°14′27.9″S 20°05′44.5″E / 32.241083°S 20.095694°E / -32.241083; 20.095694[7]) 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

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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 (188 species – 2015 figure),[8] such as the black-headed canary, Ludwig's bustard, and the black-eared sparrow-lark. Peak birding season is August to October.[9]

List of mammals

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List of birds

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The park's bird list currently includes 187 bird species.[9] Birds found in the park include:[8]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tankwa Karoo National Park.
  1. ^ "Tankwa Karoo National Park – Introduction". South African National Parks. Archived from the original on 23 January 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  2. ^ "Tankwa Karoo National Park". southafrica.net. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  3. ^ "Tanlwa Karoo National Park Space and tranquillity in abundance". capetownmagazine.com/. 2017.
  4. ^ "South African National Parks - SANParks - Official Website - Accommodation, Activities, Prices, Reservations".
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference sanparks-twanka-intro2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "South African National Parks - SANParks - Official Website - Accommodation, Activities, Prices, Reservations".
  7. ^ "SANParks Mobile". Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  8. ^ a b http://sanparks.org.za/assets/docs/groups_birders/tankwa-birding-bonanza-bird-list-2015.pdf [dead link‍]
  9. ^ a b "South African National Parks - SANParks - Official Website - Accommodation, Activities, Prices, Reservations". www.sanparks.org. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
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