The Kruger National Park is home to 125 of South Africa’s 434 species. All except six of these living gems also occur in the Limpopo Province, from which a staggering total of 204 species are known. The region boasts the highest reptile diversity in South Africa – half of the country’s herpetofauna occurs here and more than 40 species are endemic. Several are newly described and have never been pictured in a popular field guide, while many have undergone significant taxonomic revision. This volume is packed with first-hand information and brings the region’s 210 species and their habitats to life with more than 600 photographs. This book is an indispensable resource for any serious African herpetologist, ecologist, nature guide, game ranger and hunter. Nevertheless, it is purposefully crafted to offer a gateway into the fascinating world of reptiles for enthusiasts, budding naturalists and
the youth.
- Includes family and genus accounts.
- Detailed overview of the region's biogeography, habitats and centres of endemism.
- Field notes supplemented with the latest research.
- Exhaustive bibliography (nearly 500 entries).
- Author citation and type locality provided for each species.
- Indigenous-language common names for all species, in four languages – a first for an African reptile field guide.
- Colour-coded provincial and country-scale distribution maps
Ruan Stander has been deeply fascinated by all aspects of the natural world since his childhood. He has 15 years of experience working with wild reptiles and has conducted herpetological surveys in Ethiopia and South Africa since 2014. Ruan serves on the expert identification panel of the Biodiversity and Development Institute (BDI) and the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology ReptileMAP project. Since 2018, he has diligently studied the reptiles of the Limpopo Province and Kruger National Park – the results fill these pages.