Fire is 'Good News for Tourists'. (7 October, 1996)

Very few tourists have cancelled their holidays to the Kruger National Park after fires swept through large areas of the southern parts of the Park, with chief game ranger Bruce Bryden remaining positive about the habitat and animal sighting opportunities. 'I travelled down to Malelane on Saturday and I saw rhino and elephant and on the way back I saw cheetah. It has made it much easier to see the animals,' he said.

Mr Bryden said the fire, which was started last week by lightning, was still burning in a few places, but added that he did not believe it was likely to burn much longer. The fire has burned about 200 000 ha of grazing land. Game rangers had left the fire to take its course as it had a natural cause. Mr Bryden said the burnt foliage would rejuvenate within a couple of weeks. No animal deaths had been reported. All the Park resorts and nearby hotels remained fully booked and Mr Bryden said he had not heard of many people cancelling their travel plans.

'At times like this when we have fires covering a vast area of the park, people might think that it would ruin their chances of seeing the big game,' he said. 'But it is quite the contrary. Because the vegetation is not as dense, tourists can spot cheetah, lion and even leopard which are usually camouflaged. It is also an opportunity to spot other creatures, which come out of the bush to the roadsides to get away from the fires. The fire season is also a good time for birdwatching. One can see the eagles and hawks circling their territories for prey, which would have become scarce since a lot of the small animals such as rabbits, squirrels, mice and snakes would not have been able to scurry away to safety in time.'

The two hiking trails in the Park, Naphi and Sweni, had been affected by the fire 'but this is the time to go on the trail because of the different scene and also the different animals one can see which are not usually visible,' Mr Bryden said. Own Correspondent. Courtesy of the Pretoria News.