Background

Philip Herd Nature Reserve is a nature reserve within the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

br>Vhembe Biosphere Reserve
in the

Vhembe District Vhembe is one of the 5 districts of Limpopo province of South Africa. It is the northernmost district of the country and shares its northern border with Beitbridge district in Zimbabwe and on the east with Gaza Province in Mozambique. Vhembe co ...

Limpopo Province Limpopo is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while th ...

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 ...

. The reserve is located east of the town of

Musina Musina (; formerly Messina) is the northernmost town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. It is located near the confluence of the Limpopo River with the Sand River and the border to Zimbabwe. It has a population of between 20,000 and 40, ...

on the

Limpopo River The Limpopo River rises in South Africa and flows generally eastward through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers led by Hosi Rivombo who settled in the mountaino ...

which forms the border between

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. It covers an area of 12,000

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s (Ha), of which 6,616.42 Ha is a declared

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in terms of South Africa's National Environmental Management Act: Protected Areas Act of 2003. The reserve conserves a critically biodiverse area o
Limpopo Ridge Bushveld
and 1.5% of the

Nzhelele River The Nzhelele River is a major watercourse in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The river's catchment area comprises 2,436 square kilometers. Course This river collects much of the drainage of the northern slopes of the extensive rock formation of th ...

catchment (Quaternary A80G), which forms part of the Limpopo

Water Management Area Water Management Areas (WMAs) are parts of South Africa that are managed by Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs). A CMA is established in terms of the National Water Act of 1998. (As of December 2020 only two CMAs have been established). The li ...

(WMA) established in terms of South Africa's National Water Act of 1998. The reserve operates under the brand name
The Herd Reserve
The Philip Herd Nature Reserve was proclaimed in 1967 in the provincial government gazette (Proclamation Notice No. 281 of 1967, Transvaal Provincial Gazette No. 3291, vol. 202, 13 September 1967) and is a partnership between private landowners and the Limpopo provincial government conservation authority, the Limpopo Department of Economic Development Environment and Tourism
LEDET
The reserve is located at GPS co-ordinates: -22.361688401047353, 30.346695811365834

Critical Biodiversity and Conservation

The

South African National Biodiversity Institute The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is an organisation established in 2004 in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, No 10 of 2004, under the South African Department of Environmental Affairs ( ...

classifies the area under management as a Critical Biodiversity Area (CBA 1 and 2), a designation mirrored in th
Limpopo Conservation Plan, V2, 2013
and th
Vhembe District Bioregional Plan, 2017
The reserve contributes towards conservation targets for th
Limpopo Ridge Bushveld
vegetation unit of the savanna biome prescribed i
South Africa’s National Protected Areas Expansion Strategy, 2016
and the Limpopo Protected Areas Expansion Strategy.{{Cite web, title=Limpopo Conservation Plan v2 Technical Report, url=https://conservationcorridor.org/cpb/Desmet_et_al_2013.pdf, url-status=live, website=conservationcorridor

Topography, Geology, Climate and Vegetation

Typical of Limpopo Ridge Bushveld, a veld type that occurs only in the northernmost extremes of Limpopo Province, between Mapungubwe Mountain in the

Mapungubwe National Park Mapungubwe National Park is a national park in Limpopo Province, South Africa. It is located by the Kolope River, south of the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers and about to the NE of the Venetia Diamond Mine. The National Park border ...

in the east and the far northern reaches of the

Kruger National Park Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from ea ...

in the west, the landscape is dominated by undulating, wooded hills. Rocky ridges, irregular level plains and valleys traversed with drainage courses are characteristic. The veld type occurs at an

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

of about 300m in the east up to 700m and mostly on

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

and other rocks of the Beit Bridge Complex as well as sediments (including

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

s of the Clarens Formation) and

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

(particularly in the east) of the

Karoo Supergroup The Karoo Supergroup is the most widespread stratigraphic unit in Africa south of the Kalahari Desert. The supergroup consists of a sequence of units, mostly of nonmarine origin, deposited between the Late Carboniferous and Early Jurassic, a perio ...

. Limpopo Ridge Bushveld occurs in the summer rainfall areas of southern Africa with very dry winters including the months of May to September. The mean annual precipitation is between 300 and 400 mm and it is generally a frost-free area. The vegetation structure is a moderately open

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

. Over 100 different tree species occur in the area. Important species in the tall tree segment of the open savanna include the

Baobab ''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Tropic ...

(''Adansonia digitate''); the Mashatu or

Nyala tree ''Xanthocercis zambesiaca'', the nyala tree or mshatu, is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae which is native to the southern subtropics of Africa. It occurs in seasonally hot, low-lying river valleys of Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, So ...

(''Xanthocercis zambesiaca''); Jackalberry (''Diospyros mespiliformis''); Knob Thorn (''Acacia nigrescens''); Marula (''Sclerocarya birrea subsp. Caffra''). Mopane stands (''Colophospermum mopane'') dominate the plains, White Syringa (''Kirkia acuminata'') is prominent on the crests of the ridges, while groves of Fever trees (''Vachellia xanthophloea'') and Rock Figs (''Ficus abutilifolia'') grow on the banks of the

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

and Nzhelele rivers.

Wildlife

Common mammalian species supported by the various habitats include

Giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...

Burchell's zebra Burchell's zebra (''Equus quagga burchellii'') is a southern subspecies of the plains zebra. It is named after the British explorer and naturalist William John Burchell. Common names include bontequagga, Damaraland zebra, and Zululand zebra (John ...

Blue wildebeest The blue wildebeest (''Connochaetes taurinus''), also called the common wildebeest, white-bearded gnu or brindled gnu, is a large antelope and one of the two species of wildebeest. It is placed in the genus '' Connochaetes'' and family Bovidae, a ...

Kudu The kudus are two species of antelope of the genus ''Tragelaphus'': * Lesser kudu, ''Tragelaphus imberbis'', of eastern Africa * Greater kudu, ''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'', of eastern and southern Africa The two species look similar, thou ...

Impala The impala or rooibok (''Aepyceros melampus'') is a medium-sized antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The only extant member of the genus '' Aepyceros'' and tribe Aepycerotini, it was first described to European audiences by Germa ...

Waterbuck The waterbuck (''Kobus ellipsiprymnus'') is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus '' Kobus'' of the family Bovidae. It was first described by Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1833. Its 13 subspecies ar ...

Common eland The common eland (''Taurotragus oryx''), also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus ''Taurotragus''. An adult male is ...

Gemsbok The gemsbok or South African oryx (''Oryx gazella'') is a large antelope in the genus ''Oryx''. It is native to the extremely dry, arid regions of Southern Africa; notably, the Kalahari Desert. Some authorities formerly classified the East Afric ...

and other antelope species, including the endemic

Nyala The lowland nyala or simply nyala (''Tragelaphus angasii'') is a spiral-horned antelope native to southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus ''Tragelaphus'', previously placed in genus ''Nyala''. It was first described in ...

, as well as naturally occurring predators, such as

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

African wild dog The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' Ly ...

hyena Hyenas, or hyaenas (from Ancient Greek , ), are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae . With only four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the Carnivora and one of the smallest in the clas ...

and

Black-backed jackal The black-backed jackal (''Lupulella mesomelas),'' also called the silver-backed jackal, is a medium-sized canine native to eastern and southern Africa. These regions are separated by roughly 900 kilometers. One region includes the southe ...

. Over 250 bird species have been recorded, including several rare and endangered species. The following threatened species have been confirmed present on reserve: Pangolin (''Manis tyemminckii'') – conservation status: Vulnerable Leopard (''Panthera pardus'') – conservation status: Vulnerable. African Wild Dog (''Lycaon pictus'') – conservation status: Endangered. Cape clawless otter (''Aonyx capensis'') – conservation status: Near threatened Southern African python (''Python natalensis'') – conservation status: Vulnerable Kori bustard (''Ardeotis kori'') – conservation status: near threatened Crocodile (Crocodilus niloticus) – conservation status: least concern, but listed on CITES under Appendix I and II. Saddle billed stork (''Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis'') conservation status: Least Concern (Population decreasing)

References

External links

* http://www.ledet.gov.za/ * https://en.unesco.org/biosphere/africa/vhembe * https://www.herdreserve.co.za/ Nature reserve in South Africa