Mountain Zebras in Karoo National Park
Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2020 5:35 pm
CUSTOS Magazine 1978
Go wild for Wildlife and help to keep our Conservation Areas pure, natural and green.
https://www.africawild-forum.com/
(SANParks website)History
During the late 1950s a local farmer and avid birder, William Quinton, campaigned for a conservation area in the Beaufort West vicinity.
However, it was only in the 1970s that South African National Parks (SANParks) proposed the establishment of a national park that would be representative of the Nama-Karoo biome. The South African Nature Foundation (SANF), funded through the commission and sale of special art stamps depicting the flora and fauna of the Great Karoo, campaigned to make this happen.
In a gesture of support, the Town Council of Beaufort West donated 7 209ha of communal land north-west of the town to SANParks. This area then formed the nucleus of Karoo National Park, proclaimed in 1979. SANF purchased additional land to be incorporated into the Park, and in 1989 a luxury rest camp was opened.