The count is on: Kruger's cheetahs, the world's migratory birds, and a new Joburg address

SANParks and the Endangered Wildlife Trust have launched a year-long photographic census of cheetahs across Greater Kruger, running through August 2027, with safari guests asked to submit their own sighting photos to help build the count. The last full survey, in 2021-22, put the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier population at roughly 116 individuals — a number worth sharing with clients booking Kruger and neighbouring private reserves, since it sets realistic expectations for cheetah sightings even in prime cat country.

For advisors, this is a ready-made value-add: brief guests before departure that their guide can log photos toward the census, turning an ordinary sighting into a citizen-science contribution. It's a low-cost way to differentiate a Kruger or Greater Limpopo itinerary, and a concrete hook for marketing cheetah-focused departures over the next twelve months.

The 31-room Park Hyatt Johannesburg, which opened in Rosebank last year and holds a Michelin One Key rating, has been named Africa's Leading New Hotel for 2026. Published rates run roughly R6,000 to R13,000 a night, giving advisors a concrete, quotable option for the pre- or post-safari Joburg night that most African itineraries still need to route through.

It's a useful addition to the gateway-city shortlist: a newly validated luxury property with an accolade behind it, rather than an unproven opening. Worth flagging to clients doing a one-night Joburg stopover before flying on to Kruger, the Lowveld, or points further north — the rating and rate range make it easy to position against the city's more established five-star options.

BirdLife International reports that 45% of migratory bird species are now in decline worldwide, a finding that has just produced the Nairobi Flyways Declaration — a new cooperation pledge among governments to protect the wetlands and stopover sites migratory birds depend on. Southern and East African flyway sites, the wetlands that anchor many birding itineraries, are named among the priority habitats.

There's no immediate booking or permit change here, but it's an early signal of where conservation funding and habitat-protection attention will concentrate next. Advisors selling birding-focused African itineraries should keep half an eye on this: priority-habitat status can eventually bring new access rules, guiding requirements, or funding-driven infrastructure at the wetland sites involved.