Hlane Royal National Park is a national park in

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

, roughly 67 km northeast of Manzini along the MR3 road.South Africa, page 815 Prior to the park being public, it was a private royal hunting ground. Hlane, meaning 'wilderness', was named by

King Sobhuza II Sobhuza II, (; also known as Nkhotfotjeni, Mona; 22 July 1899 – 21 August 1982) was the Paramount Chief and later Ngwenyama of Swaziland for 82 years and 254 days, the longest verifiable reign of any monarch in recorded history. Sobhuza was ...

. It is now held in trust for the Nation by His Majesty

King Mswati III Mswati III (born Makhosetive; 19 April 1968) is the king ( Swazi: Ngwenyama, Ingwenyama yemaSwati) of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family. He was born in Manzini in the Protectorate of Swaziland to King Sobhuza II and one of his younger w ...

, and is managed by Big Game Parks, a privately owned body.

Features

It is Eswatini's largest protected area and park. The park and its adjacent dispersal areas cover of Swazi

bushveld The Bushveld (from af, bosveld, af, bos 'bush' and af, veld) is a sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa. It encompasses most of Limpopo Province and a small part of the North West Province of South Africa, the Central and Nort ...

. It is a flat lowland area, covered with ancient hardwood trees like knobthorn, leadwood and tambuti, with some grasslands and shallow pans.

Fauna

Hlane is home to the

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adu ...

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantida ...

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 camelopardal ...

, and white rhinoceros.

Wildebeest Wildebeest ( , , ), also called gnu ( or ), are antelopes of the genus ''Connochaetes'' and native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-toe ...

, zebra and

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 Ger ...

herds are attracted to the

waterhole A waterhole is a depression in the ground in which water can collect, or a more permanent pool in the bed of an ephemeral river. Waterhole or water hole may refer to: * Water hole (radio), an especially quiet region of the electromagnetic spect ...

s during the dry winter months, June to September. After a long absence, cheetah populations have been reintroduced in this park. It has an abundant and diverse birdlife, including the highest density of nesting white-backed vultures in Africa. Raptors include martial eagles, bateleurs, and

long-crested eagle The long-crested eagle (''Lophaetus occipitalis'') is an African bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae. It is currently placed in a monotypic genus ''Lophaetus''. It is characterized by the feathers making up the shaggy ...

s, as well as several species of vultures including white-backed, white-headed, lappetfaced and the occasional Cape vulture. It has the southernmost nesting site of the marabou stork. Some bird species, such as the southern yellow-billed hornbill (Tockus leucomelas) found here are either endangered or locally extinct in the country.A Crash of Rhinoceroses http://www.geobeetles.com/eswatini-rhinos Retrieved 02/2020

Accommodation

A network of game-viewing roads crisscrosses the park's flat terrain. Accommodation is available in thatched huts and cottages at two different sites. The main site is near the park entrance from MR3, Hlane Camp. The other site is Bhubesi Camp, almost at the northern end of the park. The road between them requires high clearance to navigate, so with a normal car, it is best to drive all the way around the park to get between them.

Transport

The park was bisected by the MR3 Highway in the 1960s, under pressure from sugar estates at the park's borders. They claimed that the highway would cause no environmental damage, but now hundreds of antelopes, wild boar, buffaloes, and other game are struck by vehicles each year.

References

Sources