Atherstone Nature Reserve

Atherstone Collaborative Nature Reserve, also known as the Atherstone Nature Reserve,^[1] is a 23,500 hectare reserve situated near Dwaalboom in Limpopo, a province of South Africa. The reserve consists mainly of vast savannah plains with bushveld and Kalahari grasslands ecosystems. Besides antelope, zebra and giraffes, the south-central black rhinoceros and African bush elephants are some of the highlights of Atherstone.^[2][3]

Norman Edward Atherstone, who was originally a cattle farmer, became the first game farmer in this area and did much to re-introduce some game on his farmland, which was to become Atherstone Game Reserve. He never had a wife nor children and, in his last will, he donated his farms to the former Transvaal Nature Conservation Department. In 1990 the Atherstone Nature Reserve was founded; it became the Atherstone Collaborative Nature Reserve in 1994, after some private farms were also incorporated into the reserve.

The following list of animals were taken from a pamphlet of the nature reserve and from iNaturalist observations.^[4]

Common animal species found in the reserve:

Common bird species found in the reserve:

• Protected areas of South Africa
• Limpopo Tourism and Parks Board

• Fowlds, Grant; Spence, Graham (2020). Saving the Last Rhinos. Pegasus Books. ISBN 9781643135120.

• Limpopo Tourism & Parks