A friendly conservation race through the Kruger has raised R200,000 for one of Africa’s rarest birds!
Kruger National Park, South Africa (04 June 2026) – Weeks after the 2026 Kruger Bird and Wildlife Challenge wrapped up, the best news has dropped!
Through the challenge, a whopping R200,000 has been raised for the conservation of the White-winged Flufftail, a Critically Endangered waterbird found in only two countries on Earth.
Organised by BirdLife South Africa and Rockjumper Worldwide Birding Adventures, the challenge ran from 12 to 21 February 2026 across the full length of the Kruger National Park. Teams travelled from Punda Maria in the north all the way down to Berg-en-Dal in the south.
Across the journey, they competed to record the highest number of bird and mammal species along the way, collectively logging a record 363 species over ten days!
The competition was friendly fun, but secondary to the cause.
The White-winged Flufftail is one of Africa’s most mysterious birds. Small and quite elusive, it lives and hides among dense sedge and wetland vegetation. Today, it exists only in high-altitude wetlands in Ethiopia and South Africa, more than 4000 kilometres apart, Zeiss shares.
Globally, fewer than 2000 mature individuals are thought to remain, with most of the population found in South Africa.
For a long time, scientists believed the species only bred in Ethiopia and spent its winters in South Africa. Recent research using camera traps and acoustic monitoring confirmed for the first time that White-winged Flufftails are breeding in South African wetlands, specifically at Middelpunt Nature Reserve.
It was a magnificent discovery, but it also made the protection of those critical wetlands even more urgent. The bird’s habitat is under pressure from grazing, mining, drainage and vegetation disturbance.
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Watch: These Baboons in Pringle Bay Have Found Their Own Rugby BallThe challenge, now in its third edition, brought together a colourful group of birders! This year, around 50 participants from around the world took part, all with a passion for wildlife and conservation.
Among them, BirdLife SA shares, were the California Thrashers, a group of birders from the United States competing for the second time, who made an additional donation to White-winged Flufftail conservation on top of their participation.
The funds raised go directly to BirdLife SA and the Middelpunt Wetland Trust to support ongoing research and conservation of the species and the wetland ecosystems it depends on.
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