The Timbavati Private Nature Reserve came into existence on July 1956, when a group of conservation-minded persons who owned "game farms" on the western boundary of the Kruger Park came together to form the Timbavati Association. The idea of forming such a reserve was first mooted as early as 1948, and for several years a handful of far-sighted men met frequently to discuss ways and means to create a nature reserve of a meaningful size in the area. These "leading spirits" of conservation and sustainable land use eventually succeeded in convincing sufficient number of landowners in the region to join them in forming an Association governed by a Constitution that would limit the "rights" of the individual landowner for the benefit of all. Man's incursions into this part of the Lowveld have always been temporary and brief, from Early Stone Age down to the early 20th century.

In point of fact, large tracts of land in the northern portion of the Lowveld were never permanently settled by man, and the lands now comprising the Timbavati were barely touched, and are still only lightly inhabited. This part of South Africa's bushveld region may therefore be regarded as truly unspoiled and deserves recognition as truly wild land, as opposed to the "restored" and "restocked" lands commonly found elsewhere. The white lions of Timbavati where discovered by Chris McBride in the early 1970s while doing his Phd on his father's farm Vlakgezicht. Timbavati became well known for the white lions, and as a result the commercial lodges in the reserve became very popular tourist destinations. Although there are currently no white lions in the reserve, the recessive gene causing this unusual phenomenon is still carried by the local prides, which are still paler than most other lions by comparison. The principal aim of the reserve is the preservation of wildlands and wildlife by restoring the land to its natural state and maintaining the mix and balance of species, conditions, and processes that have historically occurred in this region.

Timbavati is dedicated to the proposition that conservation's greatest purpose and challenge is to maintain the reign of Nature. Timbavati's mission is to see that at least here - in this small, but singular and deeply cherished part of the African Bushveld - Nature will be defended against human impacts, and left just as it should be: natural.