REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
GIANTS OF AFRICA NATURA SERIES - THE ELEPHANT - WITH GENUINE DIAMOND EYE
COMMEMORATES THE 110TH ANNIVERSARY OF KRUGER NATIONAL PARK
GOLD 50 RAND NATURA COIN CERTIFIED BY NGC PROOF 69 ULTRA CAMEO
ELEPHANT ON OBVERSE HAS A WHITE DIAMOND SET IN ITS EYE
RARE - ONLY 200 MINTED!
OBV: LARGE ELEPHANT WITH DIAMOND EYE TOP WITH ELEPHANTS IN FRONT AND LEFT, AND WITH ELEPHANT FAMILY BELOW; DENOMINATION UPPER LEFT.
REV: ELEPHANT HEAD ABOVE WITH TWO SILHOUETTES BEHIND AND WITH FAMILY OF 3 ELEPHANTS BELOW; DATE AT TOP.
THIS COIN DEPICTS THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT (LOXODONTA AFRICANA), ALSO CALLED THE SAVANNA OR BUSH ELEPHANT, IS THE LARGEST LIVING LAND ANIMAL. THE LARGEST RECORDED AFRICAN ELEPHANT WAS MEASURED AT FOUR METERS TO THE SHOULDERS AND WEIGHED TEN METRIC TONS.
ELEPHANTS ARE ALSO ONE OF THE EARTH'S MOST INTELLIGENT ANIMALS, RIVALLING PRIMATES AND CETACEANS, AND EXHIBIT A WIDE RANGE OF EMOTIONS AND TALENTS USUALLY ATTRIBUTED TO HUMANS SUCH AS HUMOR, ART, TOOL USE, COMPASSION, GRIEF AND POSSIBLY LANGUAGE, AMONG MANY OTHERS.
IVORY POACHING IS THE GREATEST SHORT TERM THREAT TO THESE ANIMALS. IN 1990 THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY PLACED A BAN ON IVORY TRADING, BUT THE POACHING CONTINUES TO PLAGUE ELEPHANT POPULATIONS. IN CHAD, A 1970 POPULATION OF 400,000 ELEPHANTS DROPPED TO 10,000 BY 2006 BECAUSE OF POACHING, AND IN KENYA THE POPULATION DROPPED BY 85 PERCENT IN A SIXTEEN YEAR PERIOD. THEIR GREATEST LONG TERM DANGER IS LOSS OF HABIT DUE TO HUMAN ENCROACHMENT.
KRUGER NATIONAL PARK IS ONE OF THE LARGEST GAME RESERVES IN AFRICA AND COVERS ALMOST 20,000 SQUARE KILOMETERS. THE BOER SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC, OR ZAR, PROTECTED AREAS IN THE PARK AS EARLY AS 1898, AND KRUGER PARK BECAME THE FIRST OFFICIAL NATIONAL PARK OF SOUTH AFRICA IN 1926. THE PARK IS LINKED TO GONAREZHOU NATIONAL PARK AND LIMPOPO NATIONAL PARK, RESPECTIVELY, IN NEIGHBORING ZIMBABWE AND MOZAMBIQUE. ALL THREE PARKS ARE A PART OF THE GREAT LIMPOPO TRANSFRONTIER PARK.
CONTAINS 15.5518 GRAMS OF 999.9 PURE GOLD (.5 OZ)
27 MM IN DIAMETER
RARE - ONLY 200 MADE!
