nesberg Game Park was opened in the early 1980s by President Mangope with Chief Pilane present.
1980s
6000 animals were resettled into the park over the course of the early 1980s with Operation Genesis which was the largest game resettlement programme in the history of the country. The 6000 animals were released into the quarantine area of 10 km² in groups and after a few weeks the fences were dropped. As the purpose of the park was a feeder for other parks no lion or cheetah were brought in. However leopard was naturally present as was brown hyena and mountain reedbuck. Currently this is The Park in the world that has the highest concentration of hyena. Also brought in was a family of elephant. As no mature bulls was brought in as they were too large, the young bulls caused a bit of havoc and killed 17 rhinoceroses. The reason for this was there was no parental care and the young bulls came into adolescence at too young an age. However by this time the transport techniques had improved so 6 older bulls were brought in from the Kruger. This suppressed the adolescence problem. The young culprits were all shot.
The creation of the Pilanesberg Game Reserve is considered one of the most ambitious programmes of its kind to be undertaken anywhere in the world. Operation Genesis is still the largest game translocation undertaken in the world, and as a result the park now has in excess of 10,000 animals.
1990s
In 1990 when Nelson Mandela was released, tourism in South Africa boomed. Camps and lodges were built on the park's perimeter and it became a tourist destination. In response to this, in 1993, the focus was changed from game animals to predators. Lions from the Etosha National Park in Namibia were relocated to this park despite serious concerns from the surrounding communities. Since then, the lions' numbers have been increasing in the park. A similar attempt with cheetahs from Namibia has had no such success
