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Winterhoek Sandstone Fynbos
The Groot Winterhoek mountains are located in the Western Cape province of South Africa and are part of the Cape Fold Belt comprising a watershed area of 552,606 hectares. They rise to a maximum height of 2077 m just north of the town of Tulbagh as Groot Winterhoek peak. The mountains are predominantly made up of Table Mountain sandstone. Up to 83% of the range is still classified as being in a natural state and up to 72% of the range is protected. The towns of Saron and Porterville are located at the foot the mountain range's western side. A plateau in the northern half of the mountains is accessible via the Dasklip Pass. Mammals found in the range include klipspringer, grey rhebok, grysbok, Cape mountain leopard (''Felis leopardus'' var. ''melanotica'' ), caracal, African wild cat, mongoose, and genets. A wide range of indigenous plant species, such as Agathosma, Aspalathus linearis and various proteas (all of which are harvested commercially), naturally grow in the are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tulbagh
Tulbagh, named after Dutch Cape Colony Governor Ryk Tulbagh, is a town located in the "Land van Waveren" mountain basin (also known as the Tulbagh basin), in the Winelands of the Western Cape, South Africa. The basin is fringed on three sides by mountains, and is drained by the Klein Berg River and its tributaries. The nearest towns are Ons Rust and Gouda beyond the Nuwekloof Pass, Wolseley some to the south inside the basin, and Ceres and Prince Alfred Hamlet beyond Michell's Pass in the Warm Bokkeveld. History The basin has been inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous Bushmen and Khoi-San peoples. It was about 300 years ago when, after a land grant by the Dutch Colonial Government to a more or less equal number of Dutch and Huguenot settlers to settle the area, that the town of Tulbagh was founded. The region was named "Land van Waveren" in 1699 by Willem Adriaan van der Stel in honour of the Oetgens van Waveren family, from which his mother was descended. Before ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Leopard
The African leopard (''Panthera pardus pardus'') is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been Habitat fragmentation, fragmented in the course of Habitat destruction, habitat conversion. Leopards have also been recorded in North Africa as well. Taxonomy ''Felis pardus'' was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' in 1758. His description was based on descriptions by earlier naturalists such as Conrad Gessner. He assumed that the leopard occurred in India. In the 18th and 19th centuries, several naturalists described various leopard skins and skulls from Africa, including: * ''Felis pardus panthera'' proposed by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1778 based on descriptions by earlier naturalists * ''Felis leopardus'' var. ''melanotica'' by Albert Günther in 1885 from the Cap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CapeNature
CapeNature (officially the Western Cape Nature Conservation Board) is a governmental organisation responsible for maintaining wilderness areas and public nature reserves in Western Cape Province, South Africa. Parks managed by CapeNature West Coast *Cederberg Wilderness Area *Bird Island Nature Reserve * Rocherpan Nature Reserve * Groot Winterhoek Wilderness Area *Knersvlakte Nature Reserve * Riverlands Nature Reserve Winelands * Limietberg Nature Reserve *Jonkershoek Nature Reserve *Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve *Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve * Vrolijkheid Nature Reserve Overberg * Marloth Nature Reserve *Kogelberg Nature Reserve *Walker Bay Nature Reserve *Salmonsdam Nature Reserve * De Mond Nature Reserve *De Hoop Nature Reserve * Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve * Boosmansbos Wilderness Area Cape Karoo *Anysberg Nature Reserve *Swartberg Nature Reserve *Gamkaberg Nature Reserve * Kamanassie Nature Reserve Garden Route and Little Karoo * Outeniqua Nature Reserve * Gouka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Rock Art
The San, or Bushmen, are indigenous people in Southern Africa particularly in what is now South Africa and Botswana. Their ancient rock paintings and carvings (collectively called rock art) are found in caves and on rock shelters. The artwork depicts non-human beings, hunters, and half-human half-animal hybrids. The half-human hybrids are believed to be medicine men or healers involved in a healing dance.”Gall, Sandy. "The Bushmen of the Kalahari." Ecologist 33.7 (2003): 28-31. A painting discovered at Blombos Cave is thought to be the oldest known instance of human art, dating to around 73,000 years ago. Gall writes, “The Laurens van der Post panel at Tsodilo is one of the most famous rock paintings.” High on this rock face in Botswana is the image of a “magnificent red eland bull” painted, according to Van der Post, “only as a Bushman who had a deep identification with the eland could have painted him.” Also on this rock face is a female giraffe that is motionl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amitermes Hastatus
''Amitermes hastatus'', commonly known as the black mound termite, is a species of termite found in the Western Cape region of South Africa. It is endemic to the region's fynbos ecosystem. They build distinctive black termite mounds that range in height from a few centimeters to 50 centimeters. The species is commonly found on sandy soil eroded from white Table Mountain sandstone at altitudes from just under 100 meters up to 900 meters above sea level. Colony The mound is constructed from white sand and organic matter and is distinctively black in colour due to the cement excreted by the termites. The exterior consists of irregular chambers that are interconnected with other cells through small circular openings. The interior of the mound has larger chambers with thinner walls. There is no royal cell in the mound; instead, breading termites move freely though the network of cells at the centre of the mound. The species is not a fungus grower and as such there are no fungus gard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protea
''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). Etymology The genus ''Protea'' was named in 1735 by Carl Linnaeus, possibly after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form at will, possibly because they have such a wide variety of forms. Linnaeus's genus was formed by merging a number of genera previously published by Herman Boerhaave, although precisely which of Boerhaave's genera were included in Linnaeus's ''Protea'' varied with each of Linnaeus's publications. Taxonomy The family Proteaceae to which ''Protea'' species belong is an ancient one among angiosperms. Evidence from pollen fossils suggests Proteaceae ancestors grew in Gondwana, in the Upper Cretaceous, 75–80 million years ago. The Proteaceae are divided into two subfamilies: the Proteoideae, best represented in southern Africa, and the Grevilleoideae, concentrated in Australia and South America and the other smaller segments of Gondwana that ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aspalathus Linearis
Rooibos ( ; , meaning "red bush"), or ''Aspalathus linearis'', is a broom-like member of the plant family Fabaceae that grows in South Africa's fynbos biome. The leaves are used to make a herbal tea that is called rooibos (especially in Southern Africa), bush tea, red tea, or redbush tea (predominantly in Great Britain). The tea has been popular in Southern Africa for generations, and since the 2000s has gained popularity internationally. The tea has an earthy flavour that is similar to yerba mate or tobacco. Rooibos was formerly classified as ''Psoralea'' but is now thought to be part of ''Aspalathus'' following Dahlgren (1980). The specific name of ''linearis'' was given by Burman (1759) for the plant's linear growing structure and needle-like leaves. Production and processing Rooibos is usually grown in the Cederberg, a small mountainous area in the West Coast District of the Western Cape province of South Africa. Generally, the leaves undergo oxidation. This p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agathosma
''Agathosma'' is a genus of about 140 species of flowering plants in the family Rutaceae, native to the southern part of Africa. Common names include Buchu, Boegoe, Bucco, Bookoo and Diosma. '' Buchu'' formally denotes two herbal species, prized for their fragrance and medicinal use despite their toxicity. In colloquial use however, the term (see Boegoe) is applied to a wider set of fragrant shrubs or substitutes. They are small shrubs and subshrubs, mostly with erect woody stems reaching 30–100 cm tall, but low-growing and prostrate in some species. The leaves are usually opposite, ericoid, often crowded, simple, entire, from 0.5-3.5 cm long. The flowers are produced in terminal clusters, 0.7–2 cm diameter, with five white, pink, red or purple, petals. Many of the species are highly aromatic, and the genus name means "good fragrance". Some species of the genus are used as herbal remedies. Uses Two species of ''Agathosma'' endemic to the Western Cape m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Wild Cat
The African wildcat (''Felis lybica'') is a small wildcat species native to Africa, West and Central Asia up to Rajasthan in India and Xinjiang in China. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in 2022. In Cyprus, an African wildcat was found in a burial site next to a human skeleton in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B settlement Shillourokambos. The graves are estimated to have been established by Neolithic farmers about 9,500 years ago, and are the earliest known evidence for a close association between a cat and a human. Their proximity indicates that the cat may have been tamed or domesticated. Results of genetic research indicate that the African wildcat genetically diverged into three clades about 173,000 years ago, namely the Near Eastern wildcat, Southern African wildcat and Asiatic wildcat. African wildcats were first domesticated about 10,000 years ago in the Near East, and are the ancestors of the domestic cat (''F. catus''). Crossings between domesti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Klipspringer
The klipspringer (; ''Oreotragus oreotragus'') is a small antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The sole member of its genus and subfamily/tribe, the klipspringer was first described by German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann in 1783. The klipspringer is a small, sturdy antelope; it reaches at the shoulder and weighs from . The coat of the klipspringer, yellowish gray to reddish brown, acts as an efficient camouflage in its rocky habitat. Unlike most other antelopes, the klipspringer has a thick and coarse coat with hollow, brittle hairs. The horns, short and spiky, typically measure . Typically nocturnal, the klipspringer rests during the middle of the day and late at night. A gregarious animal, the klipspringer is monogamous to a much greater extent than other antelopes; individuals of opposite sexes exhibit long-term to lifelong pair bonding. The mates tend to stay as close as within of each other at most times. Males form territories, , in which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dasklip Pass
Dasklip Pass is situated in the Western Cape province of South Africa on an off-road near Porterville along the R365 highway. The road provides access to the plateau in the Groot Winterhoek mountains and the Groot Winterhoek Wilderness Area; summiting at a height of 700 metres above sea level. It was privately built by farmers located on the plateau. The road was upgraded to an asphalt road in the early 2000s. The road is noted for both its views of the Swartland The Swartland is a region of Western Cape Province that begins some north of Cape Town and consists of the area between the towns of Malmesbury in the south, Darling in the west, Piketberg in the north, Moorreesburg in the middle and the Riebee ... plains below and as a popular launch site for hang gliders. During the 2015 Western Cape fire season a fire fighter died when his vehicle veered off the pass. Gallery File:Dasklip Pass.jpg, Road sign on the R365 turnoff to the pass File:Dasklip Pass01.jpg, Part of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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