is Kruger really like visiting a zoo?
 

I read that in a post on this forum and am curious whether anyone agrees. I am deciding whether it's worth a visit or not if I have other opportunities to do wildlife viewing in Africa like gorillas in Rwanda and safari in Serengeti - any thoughts? If I did visit Kruger it would be with one of the hostel group tours in early May. If I will get to see a variety of animals, I wouldn't mind it that there were other people - but if it's really crowded like a zoo it might not be for me.

Thanks!

I wouldn't liken it to a zoo really - at a zoo you're looking at caged animals, taken away from their natural habitat and therefore not living as they would in the wild. In Kruger, you have no guarantees as to what you'll find and see but you do know that whatever you see is living wild in it's natural environment.

The zoo comment is probably just shorthand for expressing that the main thoroughfares of Kruger do see a lot more visitors than other, lesser visited parks, and therefore one does not have the wilderness to one's self. For many, remoteness and low visitor density does contribute to the safari experience.

I enjoyed Kruger but certainly did find a few sightings where a lot of vehicles built up offputting (partly because of the very poor behaviour of a small percentage of the guests) and resolved it by driving away from those sightings as soon as possible.

You can counter this by travelling off-season or just by heading off to less crowded routes/ areas of this very vast park.

Alternatively, look into some of the other parks in South Africa (Ithala, Ndumo, Tembe, Imfolozi) which have lower visitor numbers to varying degrees.

My guide in Tanzania certainly thought so. of course he had never been to Kruger Come to think of it, I don't think he had ever been outside of Tanzania.

His basica attitude was Tanzania has the best of everything so why go anywhere else? ;)

But I have heard enough from people like Kavey who have actually been there, found ti wonderful and were able to get away from crowds.


Some people complain about The Crater or Lake Nakuru for the same reason. I have been to both and they are both still worth it.

Search the forum, there have been a couple of excellent posts on Kruger recently.

It depends what you want in wildlife viewing. By comparison with wilderness areas which are not highly managed, the answer is 'zoo-like' because the idea of zoos being areas having only caged animals is outdated (many still do but one would hope they are doomed to eventual extinction). The best modern zoos are open-range, where the animals are not caged but are enclosed in many acres of fairly natural habitat. But they are still zoos. (I'm not talking about the horrible, poorly-run so-called 'safari parks' that I knew as a boy--and I guess some still exist-- where the motive was nothing but money and the welfare of the animals was neglected). So gradually, the best zoos are becoming more like tightly-managed safari areas, and vice-versa. One would hope, but I'm not terribly optimistic, that population and other human pressures will not force remaining true wilderness areas in the same direction.

John

No.

John,

The Singapore Zoo is a prime example of your description.....no cages. They have a show on animal planet running several episodes filmed on location (dont remember the name)

Hari

p.s: Tom, i do believe they have orangutans there and a zoo breakfast spread where they eat with you.....

Hari, yes, you're right. We were in Singapore maybe 5 years ago and you could have breakfast with the orangutans. But we were part of a cruise/tour so the timing was impossible for us. Carolyn did have a short ride on an elephant though.
Kruger. We are going back to Kruger in September for the second time. We have been in private safari camps for totaling around 30 nights in four countries and going back for more of those also. Since Africa, I have no, zero, none, nadda, zip, interest in going to zoos.
I would recommend that if going to Kruger and other private (expensive) safari camps that you go to Kruger first.
regards - tom

"Since Africa, I have no, zero, none, nadda, zip, interest in going to zoos."

Tom, interesting how Africa impacts on us differently. I've always loved zoos and Africa has actually increased my appreciation of the good ones and the invaluable work they do in conserving species. Our two zoos (city and open-range) are unusual in Australia in that they are run by a donation-dependent zoological society, not government bodies, so need support from animal-lovers. They are both very high quality zoos heavily involved in international breeding and conservation programmes. When I am unable to go bush in either Australia or Africa, I have no choice but to go to these zoos to see the animals I love...and I gladly do so. It helps keep my hand in photographically, too :)


Likewise, if there was no choice in Africa, I'd happily go to Kruger too because I don't use the term zoo-like in a disparaging way at all. It's just an honest assessment, which people far more qualified made years before me.

One of my favourite Africa books is Chris &amp; Tilde Stuart's &quot;Africa's Great Wild Places&quot;, in which they made assessments of nearly 40 wilderness areas in 15 regions from South Africa to the DRC. Whether you agree with their assessments or not, their text is extremely interesting and their photos wonderful. They say many good things about Kruger, but this is their assessment: <i> &quot;Our feelings about the world-famous Kruger NP are ambiguous; on the one hand, we are awed by its diversity of species, on the other we are depressed by the pressures people are placing upon it! It is indeed a great game reserve in the truest sense</i> (edit)<i> but</i> (edit)<i> it is no longer our idea of wild Africa.</i>(edit)<i>To some it has become a glorified zoo, to others a wilderness experience; we lean towards the former!&quot; </i>

John

we have been to malamala three times .it borders kruger no fences. one night on a game drive we watchet a leopard and her cub playing .all of a sudden the mother went up a tree the cub up anouther tree and there was a lion as if it droped out of the sky. if you see that in a zoo ill kiss your behind

I found Sabi Sabi to be &quot;zoo-like&quot; because of the fences. It was really distracting. And the trackers didn't even get in the vehicle when they spotted cats, but just sat there like bait. The leopards and lions paid absolutely no attention to them, unbelievable!

could you elaborate alittle more on the fences at Sabi Sabi. I was under the impression that it was not fenced in.
Which one of the 4 were you staying at?
Thanks

I actually stayed at both the Bush Lodge and Earth Lodge and I visited Selati and Little Bush. The lodges don't have fences around them and there are no fences inside Sabi Sabi, so the animals move freeley within the entire area. However, the area is fenced from the outside to keep the animals from visiting the local villages. While on gamedrives you contantly run into this fence. They've hung big metal plates all over it to warn game animals being chased by predators about the fence. Once they hit that fence, there is no escape and the impact will knock them out before the predators will. I just found that distracting and &quot;zoo-like&quot;. However, I would go back there because you do see alot of animals and the lodges are to die for.

mp413

1. calling Kruger NP a zoo is nonsense!
(however a serious debate may be needed as to how 'natural' are some wildlife parks/areas mentioned and eveb admired on this board)
The fences though, have their influence - e.g. on Elephant movements - nowadays there are some interesting ideas &amp; procedures for making international &quot;wlidlife corridors&quot; connecting Kruger to the neibouring countries. it's not that simple &amp; future will tell...

2. Kruger NP is around 19,000 square km - that is roughly the combined size of Conneticut &amp; Delaware - can it be over-crowded? - you can choose &quot;to crowd or not to crowd&quot;
+ <i>
&quot;the park is now limiting numbers and once gates have accepted their alloted vehicles you will be denied entry at the worst&quot; </i> - i quoted Mkhonzo at another discussion

aby

PS
Safarimama - i liked these words of yours
<i>
&quot;I found Sabi Sabi to be &quot;zoo-like&quot; because of the fences&quot;
</i>

I'm confused.
regards - tom

overcrowding - to be more specific:
it tends to be overcrowded around some more southern camps (e.g. Skukuza), but go north towards Punda Maria for example or take some side routes,
sleep further inside the park &amp; start very early

aby

sorry for spelling mistakes like &quot;neighbours&quot;