Serengeti National Park

Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti National Park is a Tanzanian national park in the Serengeti ecosystem in the Mara and Simiyu regions. It is famous for its annual migration of over 1.5 million white-bearded (or brindled) wildebeest and 250,000 zebra and for its numerous Nile crocodile and badger. The Maasai people had been grazing their livestock in the open plains of eastern Mara Region, which they named “endless plains”, for around 200 years when the first European explorer, Austrian Oscar Baumann, visited the area in 1892. The name “Serengeti” is an approximation of the word used by the Maasai to describe the area,
siringet, which means “the place where the land runs on forever”. The park is Tanzania’s oldest national park and remains the flagship of the country’s tourism industry, providing a major draw to the Northern Safari Circuit encompassing Lake Manyara National Park, Tarangire National Park, Arusha National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. It has over 2,500 lions and more than 1 million wildebeest. The park is worldwide known for its incredible scenery and magnificent wildlife. Some of the most popular animals among tourists include:

Maasai lion: the Serengeti is believed to hold the largest population of lions in Africa due in part to the abundance of prey species. More than 3,000 lions live in this ecosystem.

-African leopard: these reclusive predators are commonly seen in the Seronera region
but are present throughout the national park with the population at around 1,000.

-Tanzanian cheetah: the fastest running land animal can reach speeds of up to 70
mph. The ability to be so quick allows them to capture prey that no other animals
can catch. It is estimated there are over 1,000 individuals living in the park.

-African bush elephant: the herds have recovered successfully from population lows in
the 1980s caused by poaching, numbering over 5,000 individuals, and are largely
located in the northern regions of the park.

-Eastern black rhinoceros: mainly found around the kopjes in the centre of the park,
very few individuals remain due to rampant poaching. Individuals from the Maasai
Mara Reserve cross the park border and enter Serengeti from the northern section
at times.

-African buffalo: still abundant and present in healthy numbers.

-Serengeti wildebeest: the park is home to spectacular migration events. Large
ungulates from Grant’s gazelles to blue wildebeests travel across vast tracts of land
as the seasons change. The population of migratory wildebeests is approximately 1.2
million.