BirdLife South Africa and Rockjumper Birding Tours are proud to announce the third edition of the Kruger Birds and Wildlife Challenge, a unique, non-profit conservation race held in support of the enigmatic White-winged Flufftail (Sarothrura ayresi). This high-profile event takes place across the full length of South Africa’s flagship protected area, the Kruger National Park, where teams will compete in a friendly challenge to record the highest number of bird and mammal species from the park’s far north to its southern reaches.
The 2026 Kruger Birds and Wildlife Challenge will run from 12–21 February 2026 and is proudly supported by ZEISS, together with SANParks, Painted Wolf Wines, Firefinch App, and the Santa Nature Reserve. The event has already attracted more than 50 participants from around the world, all united by a shared passion for wildlife and conservation.
At its heart, the Challenge is about impact, raising critical funds and awareness for the conservation of one of Africa’s rarest waterbirds, the White-winged Flufftail. This small, elusive bird is one of nine flufftail species in the family Sarothruridae and has long puzzled ornithologists, a true African enigma. Its name comes from the broad white patches on the secondary flight feathers, which are most obvious in flight, while on the ground it remains concealed among dense sedges and wetland vegetation.
At its heart, the Challenge is about impact, raising critical funds and awareness for the conservation of one of Africa’s rarest waterbirds, the White-winged Flufftail. This small, elusive bird is one of nine flufftail species in the family Sarothruridae and has long puzzled ornithologists, a true African enigma. Its name comes from the broad white patches on the secondary flight feathers, which are most obvious in flight, while on the ground it remains concealed among dense sedges and wetland vegetation.
Today, the White-winged Flufftail occurs only in high-altitude wetlands of Ethiopia and South Africa, more than 4,000 km apart, and may number fewer than 2,000 mature individuals globally, with most of the population hosted in South Africa. Historically, it was assumed the species only bred in Ethiopia and overwintered in South Africa, but research in recent years, using innovative camera traps and passive acoustic monitoring, has confirmed breeding in South African wetlands for the first time at Middelpunt Nature Reserve.
The species’ highly specialized habitat, shallow, dense sedge and grass wetlands, is under severe pressure from grazing, mining, drainage, and vegetation disturbance, making protection and restoration of these environments essential not only for the Flufftail, but for the wide diversity of biodiversity that depends on wetland ecosystems.
These recent discoveries are game changers, but ongoing conservation depends on sustained support. That’s where the Kruger Challenge comes in. Rockjumper Birding Tours and BirdLife South Africa, in proud partnership with the Middelpunt Wetland Trust, have once again joined forces to host this third iteration of the Challenge. The race offers participants an unforgettable journey through one of Africa’s greatest wilderness areas while raising crucial funds and awareness to support ongoing research and conservation of one of the continent’s rarest birds.
The Challenge will be staged entirely within the Kruger National Park, one of Africa’s oldest, largest, and most celebrated protected areas. Over an eight-day period, six teams comprising more than 50 participants will compete in a light-hearted but exhilarating contest. Each team, made up of up to nine participants, will travel in its own open safari vehicle, accompanied by a professional safari driver-guide and an experienced volunteer Rockjumper Birding Tours leader. Teams will earn one point for every species of bird or mammal recorded, with the top-scoring team crowned the Birding and Wildlife Champions of Kruger during a festive final evening at Berg-en-Dal Rest Camp.
Established in 1898 under the leadership of President Paul Kruger of the former Transvaal Republic, Kruger National Park is larger than several European countries and U.S. states. Its extraordinary size and ecological diversity encompass habitats ranging from acacia-dominated bushveld and mopane woodlands to riverine gallery forests and open grasslands. The park supports over 500 bird species and more than 150 mammal species, making it one of Africa’s premier wildlife destinations.
Iconic mammals such as lion, leopard, cheetah, African wild dog, elephant, buffalo, and white rhinoceros occur here in healthy populations, while the birdlife is equally remarkable. Participants can expect to encounter species such as Arnott’s Chat, Brown-necked and Brown-headed Parrots, Mosque Swallow, White-breasted Cuckooshrike, Dickinson’s Kestrel, Racket-tailed Roller, Bronze-winged and Three-banded Coursers, Stierling’s Wren-warbler, Black-throated Wattle-eye, the near-endemic Lemon-breasted Canary, Böhm’s Spinetail, Senegal and White-crowned Lapwings, unpredictable Monotonous and Dusky Larks, Bearded Scrub Robin, elusive African Finfoot, and a suite of raptors including Pallid and Montagu’s Harriers, Steppe Eagle, and Lesser Spotted Eagle. Kruger is also renowned for regional rarities such as Egyptian Vulture, African Skimmer, Orange-winged Pytilia, Golden Pipit, and Broad-tailed Paradise-Whydah.
More than a competition, the Kruger Birds and Wildlife Challenge will be a celebration of collective action for conservation. By bringing together birders, wildlife enthusiasts, researchers, and partners, the Challenge highlights how adventure and stewardship can go hand in hand to protect species on the brink. In supporting efforts to conserve extraordinary birds like the White-winged Flufftail and the fragile wetlands they rely on, participants and supporters alike help ensure that these remarkable ecosystems, and the life they sustain, endure for generations to come.
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