De Hoop Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in the

Western Cape Province The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. It lies three hours from

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

in the

Overberg __NOTOC__ Overberg is a region in South Africa to the east of Cape Town beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountains. It lies along the Western Cape Province's south coast between the Cape Peninsula and the region known as the Garden Route in the ...

region, near

Cape Agulhas Cape Agulhas (; pt, Cabo das Agulhas , "Cape of the Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of the African continent and the beginning of the dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian ...

, the southern tip of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. Approximately in area, it is one of the largest natural areas managed by

CapeNature CapeNature (officially the Western Cape Nature Conservation Board) is a governmental organisation responsible for maintaining wilderness areas and public nature reserves in Western Cape Province, South Africa. Parks managed by CapeNature Wes ...

. De Hoop is one of the components of the " Cape Floral Region Protected Areas"

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

. The De Hoop Marine Protected Area extends three

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Tod ...

s out to sea from the coastline of the nature reserve.

History

In the mid twentieth-century, the South African government bought the farms ''De Hoop'' and ''Windhoek'' with the intention to establish a wildlife farm for endangered species. In the mid 1970s, the area became dedicated to the conservation of the Cape Floral ecosystem, and became the southernmost nature reserve in Africa. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.

Climate

De Hoop Nature Reserve's climate is Mediterranean, with warm summers and mild winters. The reserve gets 380 mm of rain annually. August is the wettest month. In summer, winds blow in from the east, west and southeast, whereas winter has westerly and southwesterly winds.

Vegetation

The vegetation De Hoop Nature Reserve is part of the world's smallest and most threatened plant kingdom, known as the Cape Floral Kingdom. The reserve also contains one of the largest areas of the rare lowland fynbos.

Animals

De Hoop is haven for both terrestrial and marine animals. Numerous species inhabit these habitats. The reserve has a total of 86 mammal species. These include the rare

bontebok The bontebok (''Damaliscus pygargus'') is an antelope found in South Africa, Lesotho and Namibia. ''D. pygargus'' has two subspecies; the nominate subspecies (''D. p. pygargus''), occurring naturally in the Fynbos and Renosterveld areas of ...

and Cape mountain zebra, eland, grey rhebok,

chacma baboon The chacma baboon (''Papio ursinus''), also known as the Cape baboon, is, like all other baboons, from the Old World monkey family. It is one of the largest of all monkeys. Located primarily in southern Africa, the chacma baboon has a wide vari ...

, yellow mongoose and

caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted ...

Leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

, although rare, are also found in the reserve. The waters within the De Hoop Reserve support good populations of marine mammals such as dolphins and seals. The bays of De Hoop are the breeding grounds for

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20 ...

s. The marine protected area of the reserve has a total of 250 species of fish.

Birds

De Hoop supports a large number of resident and migratory bird species. The reserve's total bird species count is 260. Several water birds breed in the reserve. The reserve is also home to the only remaining breeding colony of the rare

Cape vulture The Cape vulture (''Gyps coprotheres''), also known as Cape griffon and Kolbe's vulture, is an Old World vulture in the family '' Accipitridae''. It is endemic to southern Africa, and lives mainly in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, and in some p ...

Missile Testing

The eastern part of the reserve is occasionally used by the

Denel Overberg Test Range The Denel Overberg Test Range is a weapons systems testing facility in the Overberg region on the south coast of South Africa, near Arniston, Western Cape. It includes launch pads and tracking systems. It was used to test the RSA series of I ...

for missile testing. There is no danger to hikers as the reserve closes the area well before the testing date.

Gallery

File:De Hoop Nature Reserve.jpg, De Hoop Nature Reserve File:RSA De Hoop.jpg, A beach in the De Hoop Nature Reserve File:Elenantilopen.jpg, Common eland, with a calf File:GlattwalP1010754-2.jpg, A southern right whale breaching at De Hoop Nature Reserve File:African Penguin RWD.jpg, African penguin File:Cape Bulbul RWD.jpg, Cape bulbul

References

External links

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De Hoop Nature Reserve
Provincial nature reserves of the Western Cape Nature reserves in South Africa Ramsar sites in South Africa {{Africa-protected-area-stub