The Kruger National Park is home to 21 different kinds of antelope – more than any other protected area in our country. Along with zebras and warthogs they form the staple prey for the majority of the large predators in the Park.
The Satara area of the park, which we visited in December 2021, hosts the largest concentrations of Blue Wildebeest in Kruger. Most Wildebeest calves are born at this time of the year, when the summer rains bring a flush of green fodder for the lactating cows.
Bushbuck aren’t seen around Satara all that often; the veld is generally too open for their liking in this part of the Park and any sightings are likely to be along the stream courses where the riverine vegetation provides the cover and browse they need.
The S36 road linking Satara and Orpen to the picnic spots at Muzandzeni and Nhlanguleni is usually reliable for finding Common Duikers, and if you are lucky these shy little antelope may stand still for a second or two so you can take a picture.
It is a real pity that the Impala is so numerous in Kruger that most visitors seem to not even spare them a second glance. They are actually really athletic and beautiful antelope.
Joubert got these photographs of two impala rams sparring.
The birth of Impala lambs are timed to occur en masse at the end of November and into early December. The lambs congregate into a “creche” within the herd when they’re at rest, but can often be seen running and chasing each other around – seems they have boundless energy.
In the evening of the 31st of December, along the Sweni Road (S126), we encountered a huge herd of Impalas. They were on the move, relinquishing the open plain where they were feeding for denser bush in which to spend the night. We spent several minutes with the herd as they walked off until the whole plain was abandoned.
Owing to the general scarcity of suitable rocky habitats around Satara, our only Klipspringer sighting of the entire 3 weeks we spent in that part of the Kruger Park was at an outcrop to the south of Tshokwane.
Three Klipspringers near Tshokwane
The open, thorny savanna around Satara supports a high density of the magnificent Greater Kudu and they can easily be seen along any of the roads that radiate from the camp.
By contrast, the Nyala is rarely encountered in this part of the Park and while they’re sometimes seen along the course of the Nwaswitsontso River south of Satara we had to go north to the banks of the Olifants River this time around to see this impressive bull.
Nyala bull
The Steenbok is the small antelope seen most often around Satara – they find the open grasslands perfectly to their liking.
The less I say about the expression on these Steenbokkies’ faces after mating, the better probably…
The Tsessebe is one of the rarest antelope in the Kruger National Park, and is not found near Satara. We undertook a day’s outing north to the Mopani area of the Park specifically to go looking for them, and luckily did not return to Satara with nothing to show for our effort.
Another large antelope you would defnitely encounter when visiting Satara is the Waterbuck. They’re quite numerous along the courses of the Nwanetsi and Gudzani streams to the east of the camp.
DeWetsWild 
Pragtig!!
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Ons is geseen met n wonderlike verskeidenheid boksoorte, Aletta.
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Daar is sommige van die boksoorte wat hier in ons geweste voorkom.
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Wonderful images! Antelope are hard for us to catch here in the United States.
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Thank you, John. The antelope family really have their stronghold here on our continent.
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Wow, what a gorgeous collection of photos! These animals are all so beautiful in different ways. That Waterbuck bull is a stunner. Good eye, Joubert!
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I’ll pass your wonderful comment to Joubert, thank you Lori!
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Sjoe, dis sulke mooi bokke (en mooi foto’s) … ek het lekker gelag oor jou opmerking rakende die steenbokkies se gesigsuitdrukking 😀. Ek hou baie van die reeks foto’s van die Impalas (Joubert is beslis ‘n ster fotograaf)!
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Daai twee uitasem steenbokkies kan nogal ongemaklike vrae laat opduik…
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😂
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Beautiful photographs. They fill my heart with joy just looking at them.
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Same here, Dawn. What would our reserves be without our antelope?
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Absolutely beautiful beings, every one of them.
Fabulous photos of them
The Kudu buck as such wicked pretty horns!
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There are few things as beautiful in Africa as a majestic Kudu bull, that’s for sure, Dawn!
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Another wonderful glimpse into our rich heritage of antelope! Joubert’s photographic eye is improving by leaps and bounds – some of his shots are really outstanding! We are fortunate to see quite a few of these antelope on our weekly drives into the country, encountering bushbuck, kudu and duiker along the road now and then – hence we always drive slowly and make sure to be off the road by dusk. What I really enjoy about your gallery is the number of action shots which bring these animals to life. Marvellous memories you have stored here!
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Thank you very much, Anne. In the post I’ve mentioned specifically that I think the impalas are under-appreciated, but I guess that could go for many of the others too, perhaps excluding the kudu bulls. All our antelope are beautiful in their own way – even the wildebeests – and I can’t imagine how different a visit to the game reserve would be without them.
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Joubert, excellent work!! I love the kudu horns but all the antelope are lovely. Both of you got lots of wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing the bounty.
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Thank you very much, Janet. It’s nice sharing these beautiful animals with people who appreciate them as much as you do!
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This is a marvelous collection of photos. Joubert got some terrific action shots of them leaping and jumping and running. And the head shots are also so good.
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Thanks a lot, Anne. I just love to watch Joubert in action behind the camera.
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The horns on all of these animals are so impressive!
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And there’s such a variety of shapes and forms!
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