Lions in Kruger National Park During COVID-19

While the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down Kruger National Park to the public, its resident lions are taking advantage of the absence of visitors to check out places they usually don’t frequent.

Kruger closed to visitors on 25 March as part of South Africa’s efforts to curb the spread of the virus. With traffic gone from the area, section ranger Richard Sowry came across a pride of lions lying on the tar road just outside Orpen Rest Camp and captured some great images of the big cats snoozing in the sun. They usually reside on Kempiana Contractual Park, an area visitors to Kruger don’t see.

“The use of barren places by animals such as lions is not unusual,” park spokesman Isaac Phaahla tells iBestTravel. “In this instance, the tarred road is being used because there has not been traffic passing through this particular stretch of road since the lockdown. It also means there is prey in the area because they are drawn to places where there is food and water nearby.”

Kruger is one of Africa’s largest game reserves, featuring a diverse landscape that includes mountains, bush plains, and tropical forests. Visitors can find all of the continent’s iconic safari species – elephant, lion, leopard, cheetah, rhino, buffalo, giraffe, hippo, and zebra – cohabiting in this unique ecosystem, which also supports 137 other mammals and over 500 varieties of birds.

During the temporary closure of Kruger, wildlife enthusiasts can join a series of wildlife safari drives via live streaming. These immersive experiences last approximately three hours and are streamed in real-time from &Beyond Ngala Private Game Reserve and Djuma Private Game Reserve, both located on the fringes of Kruger.