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African Birdlife

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July - August 2020

Southern Ground-Hornbills thwarted by a terrapin shell

- ANTHONY LOWNEY

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Although I’ve been living in South Africa for close to five years, I didn’t manage to get to the Kruger National Park until fairly recently. Everyone I met recommended a visit, but I still had doubts. I mean, how good could it really be? So far I’d had the great fortune to spend most of the time I’d been in South Africa on a private reserve in the Kalahari, where I was constantly bumping into some of the famous large African megafauna, and more excitingly, lesser known animals such as aardvarks and aardwolves. I also had a reasonable bird list of more than 170 species within the reserve. So, apart from elephants and a few bird species, what could Kruger really offer me?

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