The reserve, which is 134 km2 (52 sq mi), hosts a representative sample of the fauna and flora of the rocky highveld grassland biome.

[2] Later the ridge and consequently the reserve's name became associated with the characteristic Transvaal-sugar bush (Protea afra), a dominant vegetation type within the area's limits.

[3] Recent land acquisitions at the beginning of the twenty-first century[4] have seen the reserve almost double in its size.

The Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve is managed by the Gauteng province's Department of Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs, South Africa.

The reserve is also a habitat for a large range of mammal species including the animals listed below.