Makuleke

Makuleke, Kruger National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Location in South Africa
Location	Limpopo, South Africa
Nearest city	Tshipise, South Africa
Coordinates	22°24′05″S 31°11′49″E / 22.40139°S 31.19694°E / -22.40139; 31.19694Coordinates: 22°24′05″S 31°11′49″E / 22.40139°S 31.19694°E / -22.40139; 31.19694
Area	240 km2 (93 sq mi)
Established	Incorporated into Kruger Park 1969 Returned to Makuleke people 1998
Governing body	South African National Parks and Makuleke People

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 (Tsonga) is named after Venda chieftains, the Mphaphuli, and the Luvuvhu River is named after a Combretum tree (Venda: muvuvhu) growing on its banks.

The Makuleke region carries a remarkable geological and natural heritage that makes this region of interest to geographers and historians. Some rocks in the area have been dated to over 250 million years old. In the bottom of Lanner Gorge are rocks that appear to be of Permian age, which indicate that the then interior of Pangea was harsh and arid.

The rocks above the Permian ones are from the Triassic and date to between 248 million and 206 million years. Rocks of this age are found in the lower walls of Lanner Gorge and in these can be found fragments of bone and probably wood representing both holdovers from the Permian–Triassic extinction event like glossopetrids (a type of tree) and dicynodonts (a form of mammal-like reptile), and new forms that would dominate the Mesozoic, including modern conifers, cycads and of course dinosaurs, such as Euskelosaurus.