Tygerberg Nature Reserve

Proclaimed in 1973 the Tygerberg Nature Reserve is a small reserve slap bang in the middle of the Cape Peninsula.

This reserve that supports one of the last remnants of the highly threatened Swartland Shale Renosterveld vegetation.

It rather small in South African terms (278 ha), but it has quite a bit to offer.

View of Cape Peninsula, Tygerberg Nature Reseve, Cape Town

View of Cape Peninsula

Wheelchair-friendly Walk, Tygerberg Nature Reseve, Cape Town

Wheelchair-friendly Walk

The reserve boasts 460 different plant species of which 12 are threatened with extinction, eight are endemic to Cape Town and three endemic to Tygerberg itself.

The following animal life can be found:
50 different mammals, 125 bird species, 35 different reptiles, 8 types of frogs and 33 different butterfly species. (Phew what a mouthful!)

Beside the birds and small animals on view, the main reason I visit this reserve regularly, is that it offers a spectacular view of Cape Town.

It lets you orientate yourself and all the places you have been and intend going to.

Kristo Pienaar Environmental Education Centre, Tygerberg Nature Reseve, Cape Town

Kristo Pienaar Environmental Education Centre

The Kristo Pienaar Environmental Education Centre features a resource centre, library and herbarium where geography, town planning and ecology lessons are offered.
Booking is essential.

What does the name Tygerberg mean?

From a distance, the blotches visible on the hills ofthe Western Cape reminded Dutch settlers of a leopard's skin, and the hills became known as Luipaerts Berghen (1657).

This was changed to Tijgerberghen in 1661, and is now known as Tygerberg.
Many scientists think that these regular round patches are the remains of ancient termite nests.

Walks, Tygerberg Nature Reseve, Cape Town