page_title: Makuleke
section_title: Plants and animals
hierarchical_section_title: Makuleke / Plants and animals
caption_attribution_description: English: Elephant crossing the Luvuvhu. Photo from Lee Berger's Lanner Gorge expedition.
context_page_description: The Makuleke Contractual Park or Pafuri Triangle constitutes the northernmost section of the Kruger National Park, South Africa, and comprises approximately 240 square kilometres of land. The "triangle" is a wedge of land created by the confluence of the Limpopo and Luvuvhu Rivers at the tripoint Crook's Corner, which forms a border with Zimbabwe along the Limpopo River. It is a natural choke point for wildlife crossing from North to South and back, and forms a distinct ecological region.
  Pafuri is derived from Mphaphuli, the dynastic name of Venda chieftains who ruled locally, while the Luvuvhu River is named after a Combretum tree growing on its banks.
context_section_description: The Pafuri region is famous for its bird watching and more than 250 bird species have been recorded in a year.  While comprising only about 1% of the Kruger National Park's actual area, the area contains plants and animals representing almost 75% of the Parks total diversity.
  The area has both semi-arid vegetation including numerous large baobabs as well as rich riverine forests with large nyala trees.  While game is plentiful, one is most likely to encounter nyala, buffalo and bushbuck in the riverine areas and drier adapted game, including white rhino, in the uplands. The area is famous for its elephant herds in winter, which come to drink from the Luvuvhu River.
caption: A breeding herd of elephants crossing the Luvuvhu in the Makuleke area
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