The Serengeti is a huge ecosystem located in central Africa. Its territory covers 30 square kilometers, thus explaining the name of the park, which in translation from the Masai language means.
The national park is located in the north of Tanzania and extends to the southwestern part of Kenya. It includes the Serengeti National Park itself and a number of reserves protected by the governments of these two countries. The region represents the largest mammal migration in the world and is a popular African safari destination.
The landscape of the Serengeti is rich in variety: flat tops of acacias, rocky plains, open grasslands bordering hills and rocks. High air temperatures with harsh winds create extreme weather conditions in the area. The park’s boundary is “established” by Ol-Doinyo-Lengai, the only active volcano in the area that still erupts carbonatite lavas that turn white when exposed to air.
The Serengeti is home to a wide variety of fauna: blue wildebeest, gazelles, zebras, buffaloes, lions, spotted hyenas – familiar to all fans of the Disney film The Lion King. A drought and a cattle plague in the 1890s severely affected the population of the Serengeti, in particular the wildebeest. By the mid-1970s, wildebeest and buffalo numbers had recovered. Large mammals are not the only inhabitants of the National Park. Colorful agama-lizards and mountain hyraxes are comfortably located in numerous granite mounds – volcanic formations. 100 varieties of dung beetle have been registered here!
The Maasai herded cattle on the local plains for nearly 200 years before European explorers reached the area. The German geographer and explorer Oskar Baumann entered the Maasai in 1892, and the British Stuart Edward White dated his first record in the northern Serengeti in 1913. The national park then came into existence in 1951, gaining great popularity after the first work of Bernhard Grzymak and his son Michael in the 1950s. Together they released the film and book The Serengeti Will Not Die, an early documentary about nature conservation. As a wildlife icon, the Serengeti National Park holds a special place in the work of authors Ernest Hemingway and Peter Matthiessen, as well as filmmakers Hugo van Lawitzk and Alan Root.
As part of the creation of the park and in order to preserve wildlife, the Maasai were moved to the Ngorongoro highlands, which is still a matter of much controversy. It is believed that the largest population of lions in Africa is the Serengeti, with an estimated 3000 lions in the entire park. In addition to the “big African five”, you can meet. There is a high probability of encountering endangered species such as.
Lives in the Grumeti River (and in its vicinity). Among the bushes of the northern Serengeti live. The national park offers about 500 species of birds, among which -.