News

More people enjoyed all that Mountain Zebra National Park (MZNP) outside Cradock has to offer over the past festive season. The Park saw in increase in visitor numbers from 3 177 two years ago, to 3 425 – 7.8% more. This was during the period from 16 December to 8 January.

Just over half of these were day visitors – 1 924. The rest accounts for the increase in accommodation occupancy, from 85% over the 2015/16 festive season, to 89.5% over the same period this year. The family cottages, guest house and mountain cottages ran at 97% occupancy, while camping occupancy was 83%.

Reacting to these good news, Park Manager, Megan Taplin, said “These figures are confirmation of the fact that Mountain Zebra National Park is becoming more and more popular amongst visitors as a sought-after holiday destination. This, in turn, means that we have more funds available for SANParks” conservation efforts.”

“We are also finding that even more guests are going on our cheetah tracking activity. This is a unique opportunity – where participants have the chance of experiencing a cheetah in the wild, while on foot,” continued Taplin.

The Park got some very welcome rain over the festive season, which broke the drought it”s been experiencing. Taplin said they had over 130mm spread out over a number of days, starting on the 26 December. Although the Park experienced some electrical interruptions due to lightning strikes, she was grateful that the rain transformed the veld and filled up the pans in the Park.

“The staff members who were on duty need to be commended for their hard work and dedication, during a period when most of us were enjoying time with our loved ones. They ensured that park operations carried on seamlessly, and their efforts do not go unnoticed,” she concluded.

Issued By

South African National Parks (SANParks) Frontier Region Communications

Enquiries

Fayroush Ludick
Regional Manager: Communications, SANParks
Tel: 082 888 0201 or 012 426 5371
E-mail: [email protected]