Thuli Parks and Wildlife Land

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Thuli Parks and Wildlife Land
Thuli sa northx.JPG
Looking across the Shashe River into Thuli Safari Area, Zimbabwe
Thuli Parks and Wildlife Land
Location Beitbridge (District) and Gwanda (District), Zimbabwe.
Nearest city Beitbridge
Coordinates 21°58′13″S29°7′22″E / 21.97028°S 29.12278°E / -21.97028; 29.12278
Area416 km2 (161 sq mi)
Established1958, Safari Area 1975
Governing bodyZimbabwe Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management

Thuli Parks and Wildlife Land is a protected area in south-western Zimbabwe. It comprises four areas within the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Estate and covers the entire west bank of the Shashe River within the Thuli Circle.

Contents

The protected area comprises the Thuli Safari Area, plus three small botanical reserves:

The four reserves are administered as a single unit, by the National Parks and Wildlife authority office on the east bank of the Shashe River - just outside the protected area and immediately south of the village of Tuli.

History of the Park

Thuli (Tuli) Safari Area was proclaimed in 1975 and was a controlled hunting area from 1958 until then.

Since 2006, Thuli Parks and Wildlife Land forms the core of the conservation area that Zimbabwe shall contribute to the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area. [1]

Features

The main access point into Thuli Parks and Wildlife Land, crossing the Shashe River near the park office. Four wheel drive is required. Thuli SA N.jpg
The main access point into Thuli Parks and Wildlife Land, crossing the Shashe River near the park office. Four wheel drive is required.

Flora and fauna

Most of the Thuli area is scrubland, with Mopane and combretum bush. The Shashe valley, the park's eastern border, supports riverine vegetation such as Ficus and Faidherbia . [2]

Animal life includes African bush elephants, south-western black rhinoceros, lion, African wild dog, Cheetah and African leopard, many of which move freely between the protected area and neighbouring Botswana and South Africa. [3]

Geography and geology

The protected area comprises a flat landscape, giving way to rugged hilly terrain near the Shashe River. The underlying bedrock is Jurassic basalt, [4] dated at 186.3 ± 1.2 Ma. [5] The basalts fill a NNE-trending trough with inwardly-dipping lava flows, [6] and a well-preserved volcanic caldera. [7]

Archaeological, historical and cultural sites

A large Fort (Fort Tuli) existed in the center of the protected area, where in the 1890s oxen and horses were rested prior to crossing the Shashe River. The fort was established by the Pioneer Column in 1890, [8] and maintained as a supply base. [9] In the 1970s this building was re-located to the current site, Tuli.

Accommodation and camping

Camping sites exist at the head office and within the safari area. There are no hotels or self-catering accommodation.

Shashe Wilderness Camp, operated by the Wildlife and Environment Zimbabwe (formerly Zimbabwe Wildlife Society), is located just north of the park's headquarters.

Access

Road access is via the village of Tuli, which can be reached from Beitbridge via Nottingham Estate, or from Gwanda via Guyu and Hwali. On each access route, much of the distance is over poor roads, and four wheel drive may be required. Four wheel drive is essentially for crossing the Shashe River to access the park. There is a dirt airstrip at Tuli.

Thuli Safari Area is currently operated through hunting concessions.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transboundary protected area</span> Conservation region spanning the boundaries of multiple states

A transboundary protected area (TBPA) is an ecological protected area that spans boundaries of more than one country or sub-national entity. Such areas are also known as transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) or peace parks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gonarezhou National Park</span> National park in Zimbabwe

Gonarezhou National Park is a national park located in southeastern Zimbabwe. It is situated in a relatively remote corner of Masvingo Province, south of Chimanimani along the Mozambique border. Owing to its vast size, rugged terrain and its location away from main tourist routes, large tracts of Gonarezhou remain pristine wilderness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority</span>

Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) is an agency of the Zimbabwe government managing national parks. Zimbabwe's game reserves are managed by the government. They were initially founded as a means of using unproductive land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matobo National Park</span> National park in Zimbabwe

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park</span> Transfrontier park in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park</span> Transfrontier conservation area in Botswana and South Africa

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Tuli is a village in the province of Matabeleland South, in southwestern Zimbabwe. It is located about 90 km west of Beitbridge on the eastern bank of the Shashe River. The village grew around Fort Tuli, which was the first settlement built by the Pioneer Column in July 1890 at the place known as Selous Camp and used by Frederick Selous as a base for his hunting expeditions. The village is mainly a police post and associated housing.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shashe River</span> River in Botswana, Zimbabwe

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mapungubwe National Park</span> National park in Limpopo, South Africa

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thuli River</span> River in Zimbabwe

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuli Block</span> Geographic region in eastern Botswana

The Tuli Block is a narrow fringe of land at Botswana's eastern border wedged between Zimbabwe in the north and east and South Africa in the south. It consists mainly of privately owned game farms offering safari tourism. The eastern section up to and including Redshield has been declared a game reserve, known as the Northern Tuli Game Reserve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area</span> Transfrontier conservation area in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe

Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area (GMTFCA) is a cultural Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA), formerly known as the Limpopo–Shashe Transfrontier Conservation Area.

Sengwe Safari Area is an area of protected wilderness in southeast Zimbabwe which forms a transnational corridor between Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe and Kruger National Park in South Africa. It is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.

The Peace Park Foundation, founded in 1997 by Dr Anton Rupert, President Nelson Mandela and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, is an organisation that aims to re-establish, renew and conserve large ecosystems in Africa, transcending man-made boundaries by creating regionally integrated and sustainably managed networks of Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs). Peace Parks Foundation has been involved in the establishment and development of ten of the 18 TFCAs found throughout southern Africa, all of which are in various stages of development. The establishment of each TFCA, or peace park, is complex and far-reaching, and involves several phases of activity, which can take many years to achieve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southeast African cheetah</span> Subspecies of carnivore

The Southeast African cheetah is the nominate cheetah subspecies native to East and Southern Africa. The Southern African cheetah lives mainly in the lowland areas and deserts of the Kalahari, the savannahs of Okavango Delta, and the grasslands of the Transvaal region in South Africa. In Namibia, cheetahs are mostly found in farmlands. In India, four cheetahs of the subspecies are living in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh after having been introduced there.

The following index is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the protected areas of South Africa:

References

  1. ↑ Limpopo-Shashe Conservation Area Formally Agreed On. Kruger Park Times
  2. ↑ Hyde, M.A. and Wursten, B. 2008. Flora of Zimbabwe: Location details: Shashe Wilderness Camp and the Tuli area
  3. ↑ Update on the Limpopo-Shashe Transfrontier Conservation Area, Limpopo Valley Carnivores.
  4. ↑ Thompson, R.L. (1979). "The geology of the area around Tuli, Mazunga and Gongwe". Rhodesia Geological Survey Short Report. 40.
  5. ↑ Rogers, Raymond R.; Rogers, Kristina Curry; Munyikwa, Darlington; Terry, Rebecca C.; Bradley s.Singer (2004). "Sedimentology and taphonomy of the upper Karoo-equivalent Mpandi Formation in the Tuli Basin of Zimbabwe, with a new 40Ar/39Ar age for the Tuli basalts" (PDF). Journal of African Earth Sciences. 40 (3–4): 147. Bibcode:2004JAfES..40..147R. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2004.11.004.
  6. ↑ Vail, J. R.; Hornung, G.; Cox, K. G. (1969). "Karroo basalts of the Tuli Syncline, Rhodesia". Bulletin Volcanologique. 33 (2): 398. Bibcode:1969BVol...33..398V. doi:10.1007/BF02596517. S2CID   129758561.
  7. ↑ Reimold, W. U.; Master, S.; Koeberl, C.; Robertson, D. (1994). "The 1993 Zimbabwe impact crater and meteorite expedition". Meteoritics. 29 (4): 521–522. Bibcode:1994Metic..29R.521R.
  8. ↑ Hemans, T. Those Were the Days
  9. ↑ Hole, H.M. Old Rhodesian Days, Routledge
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