Palala River

Lephalala River
Palala River
River
Lephalala River gorge in the Lapalala Wilderness, Waterberg, showing horizontal sandstone layering
Name origin: Name derived from Lephalale (Sotho), which means "one that inundates".
Country	South Africa
State	Limpopo Province
Source	Waterberg Massif
Mouth
- location	Limpopo River, South Africa/Botswana border
- elevation	788 m (2,585 ft)
- coordinates	23°5′2″S 27°53′40″E / 23.08389°S 27.89444°E / -23.08389; 27.89444Coordinates: 23°5′2″S 27°53′40″E / 23.08389°S 27.89444°E / -23.08389; 27.89444
Basin	4,868 km2 (1,880 sq mi)
Location of the Lephalala River mouth

The Palala or Lephalala River, also called the Rhooebok-river by Thomas Baines, is a river in South Africa. This river's catchment basin is a sub-watershed of the Limpopo River.

It is a significant watercourse in the Waterberg area of Limpopo Province. The river drains much of the Lapalala Wilderness area and considerable additional lands that are important habitat for native wildlife in a zone with considerable ongoing bushveld restoration. The predominantly dry deciduous forest community of the upland portion of the Palala River watershed is home to many large African mammals including Blue Wildebeest, Giraffe, White Rhino and numerous bovids.

The Palala River has been shown to exhibit high water quality with very clear flowing waters, especially in the uppermost regions; correspondingly biotic health has been assessed as healthy using the North African catfish as a bio-marker. Interesting prehistoric rock paintings exist on bluffs along the river in the Lapalala Wilderness area.

There are a variety of fauna that inhabit the Palala River including fish, Nile crocodile, African Rock Python and hippopotamus. In a 2004 study of the river's health, specimens of the North African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, were captured within reaches of the Lapalala Wilderness. A healthy population of male and female fish was found in the river's upper reaches within the Lapalala Wilderness, manifesting normal body mass averaging approximately 1.1 kilograms; moreover, this fish population from the higher reaches of the Palala River was found to be free of parasites and also free of liver damage. The health of the upper reaches was such that the upper Lapala was used in subsequent studies as the healthy control group to compare to other South African rivers which were more polluted from discharge of untreated sewage and agricultural wastes within their watersheds.