Spanning over 300 hectares, the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens are a combination of landscaped and natural veld. Located in Roodepoort in Gauteng, the botanical gardens contain 600 naturally occurring plant species, 220 bird species and a wide variety of small reptiles and mammals, including jackals and antelope. The gardens were only officially founded in 1982 as a botanical garden; however, there is evidence that the area was popular for picnics and hikes as far back as the early 1800's.