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| Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden | |
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 The reception area of the garden | |
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| Location | Malcolm Rd, Poortview,Roodepoort,South Africa |
| Coordinates | 26°5′20″S27°50′41″E / 26.08889°S 27.84472°E /-26.08889; 27.84472 |
| Area | 300 hectares (740 acres) |
| Elevation | 1,504 meters |
| Authorized | 1982; 44 years ago (1982) |
| Managed by | South African National Biodiversity Institute |
| Open | 8AM to 5PM daily |
| Camp sites | No |
| Paths | Yes |
| Website | Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden |
TheWalter Sisulu National Botanical Garden, previously known as theWitwatersrand National Botanical Garden, is a 300 hectares (3.0 km2)botanicalreserve in westernRoodepoort, nearJohannesburg,South Africa.
The garden was formally established in 1982 as the Transvaal National Botanic Gardens, at which time it was the 14th of South Africa's National Botanical Gardens.
It was opened to the public in 1987 as the Witwatersrand National Botanical Gardens,[1] on the occasion of the handing over of some 120 ha of farm Roodekrans by theKrugersdorp Town Council for inclusion in the reserve.
Though one of the youngest ofSouth Africa's National Botanical Gardens, the site has been popular with visitors for many decades before its proclamation. The garden has a restaurant, gift shop and bird hide overlooking a small dam. Up to March 2015 it operated a nursery which cultivated native South African plants. The Garden has been recognised as one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in the world.[2]
The Roodekrans, marked by alternating layers of quartz and shale, forms a backdrop to the gardens, beyond which natural bankenveld vegetation is conserved.[1]
The first record ofVerreaux's eagles at the site dates to the 1940s, though in all likelihood, they were present for many years prior. As of 2023 the garden is home to a young eagle pair, Makatsa and Mahlori, which has bred here since 2020 on a new nest.[3]
Their nest is located about 100 metres from the older nest sites, in the vicinity of the waterfall over the Roodekrans ridge. Female Makatsa has been present since 2016 when female Emonyeni (some 45 years old) disappeared, and male Mahlori since 2019, when male Thulani disappeared.
In June 2023 Makatsa and Mahlori started raising their fourth chick in four years, and being a young pair, are expected to continue breeding for another three decades or so.[1]
Media related toWalter Sisulu National Botanical Garden at Wikimedia Commons
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Authority control databases: Geographic |
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