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St. Lucia Wetlands, Durban is the third largest protected area of South Africa. It covers around 280 kilometers of coastline from Mozambican border in the north to Mapelane south of St Lucia estuary. St. Lucia Wetlands is located around 275 kilometers north of Durban, on the east coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal. Managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, these 3280 square kilometers of area is made up by beautiful natural ecosystems. Plans are in progress to rename the park to ‘i Simangaliso Wetland Park’ towards the end of 2007. Included in St. Lucia Wetlands, Durban are St Lucia Game Reserve, False Bay Park, St Lucia Marine Reserve, Sodwana Bay National Park, Maputaland Marine Reserve, Cape Vidal, Ozabeni, Mfabeni, Tewate Wilderness Area and Mkuze Game Reserve.
St. Lucia Wetlands in Durban, like many estuaries, sports a diverse wildlife. This is due to the concentration of varied ecosystems created here by the different degrees of salinity depending on both time and place. This largest estuary in Africa takes pride on having the largest forested sand dunes in the world, which reach up to 180 meters. Water filtered through the dunes reach the swamps along the border of the lake and feed the sponge areas. This is critical to the survival of freshwater life on times when lake salinity becomes high. The five different individual ecosystems at St. Lucia Wetlands of Durban are namely Marine, Eastern Shores, Lake System, Mkhuze and Umfolozi Swamps, and Western Shores.
St. Lucia Wetlands, Durban is a critical habitat for numerous species of the wildlife, including White-backed and Pink-backed Pelican, Greater and Lesser Flamingos, Madagascar Fish Eagles, and around 530 other bird species. It can also boast of the largest population of hippos among all South African parks. Also present here are coelacanths, an ancient fish species previously thought to be extinct. Also present at St. Lucia Wetlands, Durban are sea turtles, elephants, humpback whales, crocodiles and sharks.
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