To describe the nature and incidence of occupational injuries among employees in South African parks and nature reserves and to investigate whether the body-part that is injured is correlated to sex or age of the employee, or to the province in which the injury occurs. Electronic records containing occupational injury data from 2007 to 2019 were analysed. Records were retrieved from the electronic database maintained by the Department of Employment and Labour’s Compensation Fund. Associations between occupational injuries, body-part location of injury and demographic variables were investigated, using the chi-square test of independence. A total of 1531 individuals received compensation for occupational injuries over the 12- year period. Most (n = 963; 62.9%) were male and almost 30% were aged 30-39 years (n = 455; 29.7%). The lower extremities were most commonly affected (n = 454; 29.7%). Rates of occupational injuries differed across provinces and (p < 0.05) and by sex (p = 0.015). To our knowledge, this is the first study that describes occupational injuries in South African parks and nature reserves. Our findings show that there is a need for the Department of Employment and Labour’s Compensation Fund and the employers in the South African parks and nature reserve sector to plan and budget for the management of reporting and recording occupational injuries.