South Africa: Mokala National Park got expanded

As part of its expansion plan, Mokala National Park in the Northern Cape has added another property. With the inclusion of the Kameeldoorns poperty, located in the west of the park, Mokala National Park is now 27,571 hectares.*
The expansion in the National Park will help realise the three prime objectives in the area, namely:

• The conservation of a representative sample of the regions prominent ecological patterns associated with the interface of two Biomes (Nama-Karoo & Savanna) and ecological processes (e.g., rocky hills and sandy plains interfaces, large herbivore, riverine etc) in a contiguous functional conservation area.
• The establishment of an economically sustainable park.
• Developing a park that is socially sustainable through the development of entrenched social linkages across the local area.

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The Mokala National Park was established in 2007 as an alternative to the Vaalbos National Park, which was subject of land claims and diamond prospecting rights. The National Park is located in the Plooysburg area approximately 70km south-southwest of Kimberley in the  Northern Cape. The landscape of the National Park boasts a variety of koppieveld (hills) and sandy plains. Mokala, a Setswana name for a Camel Thorn, is home to e.g. Black Rhino, Tsessebe, Roan antelope, White Rhino and Black Wildebeest. There are mosquitoes during summer, but the Mokala National Park is a malaria-free zone.

*For some unknown reasons, the current size of the Mokala National Park (27,571 hectares) is smaller than about 10 month ago. Does one know why?