The Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve (

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

for war-gorge), covers and is located 10 km south of

Nieuwoudtville Nieuwoudtville is a town in Namakwa District Municipality in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The town lies on the Bokkeveld Escarpment, and was established in 1897. The Nieuwoudtville Falls on the Doring River are located a few kil ...

in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

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 countri ...

Geography

The Oorlogskloof River gorge runs along the eastern border of the reserve; the western part is bordered by the

Knersvlakte The Knersvlakte is a region of hilly terrain covered with quartz gravel in Namaqualand in the north-west corner of the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The name, literally "gnashing plain" in Afrikaans, There are also examples of

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

in caves found beside some of the plateaus of the reserve.

History

The reserve got its name from a battle that took place between indigenous

Khoi Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...

people and local farmers in 1739. In 1971 it was declared a nature reserve. In 2012, the

Department of Environmental Affairs The Department of Environment, Forestry & Fisheries is one of the departments of the South African government. It is responsible for protecting, conserving and improving the South African environment and natural resources. It was created in 2 ...

funded the construction of 10 log cabins that accommodates 15 people each, along with solar panels and septic tanks, pedestrian bridges, stream crossings and 3 boreholes. Alien invasive species like

Black Wattle Black wattle is the common name for a number of species of trees that are native to Australia, as listed below: *''Acacia aulacocarpa'' *'' Acacia auriculiformis'', also known as Darwin Black Wattle or northern black wattle; *'' Acacia concurre ...

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

and

Prosopis ''Prosopis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It contains around 45 species of spiny trees and shrubs found in subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Western Asia, and South Asia. They often thrive in ari ...

were also removed at certain locations. And hiking trails and access roads were serviced.

Habitat

Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve is found in the

Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ext ...

and

Fynbos Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...

biomes. The wagon tree, ''

Protea nitida ''Protea nitida'', commonly called wagon tree, ''waboom'' or ''blousuikerbos'', is a large, slow-growing ''Protea'' endemism, endemic to South Africa. It is one of the few ''Protea'' species that grows into trees, and the only one that has usable ...

'', and a diverse range of

Namaqualand Namaqualand (khoekhoe: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoe people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into ...

flowers can be found here.

Birds

The reserve contains a multitude of bird species, which include Verreaux’s eagles, booted eagles,

black storks The black stork (''Ciconia nigra'') is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his '' Systema Naturae''. Measuring on average from beak tip to end of tail with a wingspan, ...

and

African harrier-hawk The African harrier-hawk, harrier hawk or gymnogene (''Polyboroides typus'') is a bird of prey. It is about in length. It breeds in most of Africa south of the Sahara. The only other member of the genus is the allopatric Madagascar harrier-haw ...

Fish

The following fish species can be found on the river in the reserve: *

Clanwilliam yellowfish The Clanwilliam yellowfish (''Labeobarbus seeberi'') is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It has long been placed in ''Barbus'', the "wastebin genus" for barbs, by default; however, the species is increasingly being restored to ...

* Clanwilliam sandfish *

Chubbyhead barb The chubbyhead barb (''Enteromius anoplus'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish in the genus ''Enteromius''. The fish is found throughout South Africa in a variety of aquatic environments. The species is notable for its two breeding season ...

Sawfin The sawfin (''Pseudobarbus serra''), also known as Clanwilliam sawfin, is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It is placed with the South African redfins in ''Pseudobarbus''. It is tetraploid. Its closest living relative is proba ...

There are also the unwanted local species of

banded tilapia ''Tilapia sparrmanii'', the banded tilapia, or vlei kurper, is a widespread and adaptable cichlid fish that is found in warmer freshwater habitats of southern Africa. They prefer water with ample plant cover, and occur naturally as far north as D ...

, and alien

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

and

bluegill sunfish The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...

, which pose a major threat to the endemic fish found in the reserve. Freshwater mussels can also be found in pools in the reserve.

Trails

There are a couple of day and overnight trails (that take 4-5 days to complete), totalling 146 km in length, with 10 log cabins.

Day trails

# Leopard Trap Day Trail - 15.5 km # Rietvlei Day Trail - 17.9 km

Overnight trails

# Oorlogskloof Rock Pigeon Trail - 52.2 km and takes 5 days to complete. # Rameron Pigeon Trail - 52.4 km and takes 4-7 days to complete.

References

Sources

* Stuart, Chris & Mathilde (2012). ''National Parks and Nature Reserves''. Struik Travel and Heritage. . * Erasmus, B.P.J. (1995). ''Op Pad in Suid-Afrika''. {{ISBN, 1-86842-026-4. Nature reserves in South Africa