Nile Photo Gallery Serengeti, Kenya

COUNTRY Tanzania

NAME Serengeti National Park

IUCN MANAGEMENT CATEGORY II (National Park)

Biosphere Reserve

Natural World Heritage Site - Criteria iii, iv

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL PROVINCE 3.05.04 (East African Woodland/savanna)

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION West of Great Rift Valley, 130km west-north-west of Arusha. A corridor extends westwards to within 8km of Lake Victoria and a northern sector extending to the Kenya border. In Mara, Arusha, and Shinyanga regions. 1°30'-3°20'S, 34°00'-35°15'E

DATE AND HISTORY OF ESTABLISHMENT Protected area since 1940. In 1929, 228,600ha of central Serengeti was declared a game reserve. Afforded national park status in 1951 with extensive boundary modifications in 1959. Internationally recognised as part of Serengeti-Ngorongoro Biosphere Reserve (with the adjoining Maswa Game Reserve) under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme in 1981 and inscribed on the World Heritage List in the same year.

AREA Serengeti National Park (1,476,300ha) is contained by the biosphere reserve (2,305,100ha); contiguous to Ngorongoro Conservation Area (809,440ha) in the south east, Lolindo Game Controlled Area to the north east (400,000); Maswa Game Reserve (220,000ha; recently reduced) in the south, Maasai-Mara National Reserve (151,000ha) in Kenya to the north, and the Ikorongo-Grumeti Game Controlled Area (500,000) in the west.

LAND TENURE Government

ALTITUDE 920m to 1,850m

PHYSICAL FEATURES The plains of Serengeti are mainly crystalline rocks overlain by volcanic ash with numerous granitic rock outcrops (kopjes). In the north and along the western corridor are mountain ranges of mainly volcanic origin. Two rivers flowing west usually contain water and there are a number of lakes, marshes, and waterholes.

CLIMATE Rainfall is mainly restricted to November-May with peaks in December and March/April. Mean annual temperature 20.8°C and mean annual precipitation 1210mm recorded at 1,150m. Rainfall tends to decrease towards the east and increase to the north andwest, reaching 950mm annually in the western corridor near to Lake Victoria, and 1150mm annually in the extreme north of the park near to the border with Kenya.

VEGETATION The undulating open grassland plains are the major type of vegetation, but become almost desert during periods of severe drought. Dominant species are couch grass Digitaria macroblephara and Sporobolus marginatus (an indicator of saline soils). In wetter areas, sedges such as Kyllinga spp. take over. There is an extensive block of acacia woodland savanna in the centre, a more hilly and densely wooded zone covering most of the northern arm of the park, and some gallery forest. Lowland woodlands comprise Commiphora, Acacia drepanolobium, and A. gerrardii. Upland woodlands comprise Acacia lahai and A. seyal.

FAUNA The park is best known for the now unrivalled herd sizes of 'plains game', which migrate between seasonal water supplies and grasslands. These include wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus (LR), zebra Equus burchelli, Thomson's gazelle Gazella thomsoni (LR), numerous prides of lion Panthera leo (VU) numbering up to 3,000 individuals (Packer, 1996), and spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta (LR). In May and June many game animals take part in a mass migration away from the central plains into the western corridor. The annual wildebeest migration is described in SRCS (1992) and Murray (1992). In the 1950s the wildebeest population is thought to have numbered 190,000, subsequently increasing to an estimated 1.69 million in 1989 (SRCS, 1992), and 1.27 million in 1991 (TWCM, 1992). Other characteristic mammals are leopard Panthera pardus, cheetah Acinonyx jubatus (VU), elephant Loxodonta africana (EN) estimated to number 1,357 in 1994 (Said et al., 1995), black rhinoceros Diceros bicornis (CR), hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibius, giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis (LR), buffalo Syncerus caffer (LR), topi Damaliscus lunatus (LR), waterbuck Kobus ellipsiprymnus (LR), eland Taurotragus oryx, sitatunga Tragelaphus spekei (LR), bushbuck T. scriptus, oryx Oryx gazella (LR), reedbuck Redunca redunca (LR), mountain reedbuck R. fulvorufula (LR), numerous species of rodents and bats, golden jackal Canis aureus, side striped jackal C. adustus, Grant's gazelle Gazella granti (LR), seven species of mongoose, two species of otter, warthog Phacochoerus aethiopicus, and seven species of primate. Smaller predators include bat-eared fox Otocyon megalotis and ratel Mellivora capensis. The last packs of wild dog Lycaon pictus (EN) disappeared from the park in 1991. A rabies epidemic killed three of the packs, but there is no clear consensus on the full cause of the disappearance (Morell, 1995; Dye, 1996; East and Hofer, 1996).

Over 350 recorded bird species include 34 species of raptors, six vultures, kori bustard Choriotis kori, ostrich Struthio camelus and lesser flamingo Phoenicopterus minor (LR), and several with a comparatively restricted distribution such as rufous-tailed weaver Histurgops ruficauda.

CULTURAL HERITAGE During the 19th century the Serengeti and Masai Mara are thought to have been open grasslands free from tseste fly and extensively grazed by pastoralists. In the 1880s a rinderpest epidemic caused wildlife and domestic livestock losses, causing much of the human population to abandon the area (SRCS, 1992). The whole of the eastern half of the park was previously part of the Maasi pastoralist system, whose rangeland resources were used by both wildlife and livestock. The Maasi are the largest pastoral ethnic group in East Africa, and their cultural code precludes consumption of meat from wild animals (Leader-Williams et al., 1996).

LOCAL HUMAN POPULATION There is no resident human population but the Maasai occupy the eastern frontiers of the park, and the area to the west of the park is densely populated. Population growth on these western frontiers is 4% per year (Packer, 1996). The population in the Serengeti District as a whole increased by about 54% during the period 1967 - 1978, and the population in the seven districts to the west of the park reached a total of 1,733,958 in 1988. Agriculture is the main source of income, but many people have been attracted to the area by the wildlife resource and tourism opportunities presented by the park (Campbell and Hofer, 1993; Leader-Williams, 1996).