Pilanesberg Game Reserve is 50 000 hectares in size and is located in the North West Province of South Africa, 150 km north west of the Gauteng metropolis and 60 km north of Rustenburg.

History
The history of Pilanesberg Game Reserve is also unique amongst national parks in Africa. Pilanesberg National Park's special features of rugged landscape, well-watered valleys and attractive dwelling sites have made it a preferred site for human settlement for thousands of years.

Prior to its proclamation as a reserve in 1979, the Pilanesberg National Park Complex was degraded and depleted of indigenous game populations due to fairly intense settlement by commercial farmers. At considerable expense, the land has been restocked with game, the scars of human settlement were removed and tourism infrastructure was developed during the first 15 years (1979 and 1993). This constituted the largest and most expensive game stocking and land rehabilitation project ever undertaken in any African game reserve at the time.