Serengeti National Park
Large Tanzanian park with world's largest animal migration.
Serengeti National Park is a large protected area in northern Tanzania, spanning savanna across the eastern Mara Region and northeastern Simiyu Region. Established in 1940, the park was initially proposed in 1930 by Major Richard Hingston, who urged its designation to shield it from population growth and economic development. Strict protection came in 1948 with the formation of a board of trustees, and park boundaries were finalized in 1951, which restricted the movements of the resident Maasai people. In 1959, the eastern portion was split off to create the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, accommodating traditional Maasai land use. The park gained international fame after Bernhard Grzimek and his son Michael released the book and documentary *Serengeti Shall Not Die* in 1959. A research institute was established at Seronera in 1966 to study the Great Migration. By 1981, the park covered less than half of the wider Serengeti ecosystem.
The park is renowned for the world’s largest annual animal migration, involving over 1.5 million western white-bearded wildebeest, 250,000 Grant’s zebra, and between 400,000 and 500,000 Thomson’s gazelle, along with smaller herds of common eland. This migration is the second longest overland migration on Earth, trailing only the caribou. The route spans roughly 800 kilometers, with half a million wildebeest calves born between January and March in the southern Ngorongoro area. By March, herds begin moving north toward Kenya’s Maasai Mara, crossing the Grumeti and Mara Rivers where crocodiles lie in wait; for every wildebeest taken by crocodiles, about 50 drown. Around 250,000 wildebeest and 30,000 zebras die annually from drowning, predation, exhaustion, thirst, or disease. The park also hosts the largest lion population in Africa, with over 3,000 lions in the ecosystem. In 1994, canine distemper killed roughly one-third of the local lion population. African leopard density is estimated at 5.41 individuals per 100 square kilometers in the dry season. African bush elephant herds rebounded from a poaching low in the 1980s to over 5,000 by 2014. African buffalo declined due to poaching between 1976 and 1996 but recovered to 28,524 by 2008. Eastern black rhinoceros numbers fell to about ten in the 1980s and remain below 70 today. Masai giraffe numbers dropped from 10,750 in 1977 to an estimated 3,520 in 2010, though the population s
- Established
- 1940
- Area
- 14,763 km² (5,700 sq mi)
- Location
- Northern Tanzania (eastern Mara Region and northeastern Simiyu Region)
- Known for
- Largest annual animal migration in the world; largest lion population in Africa
- UNESCO Status
- World Heritage Site
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
The name 'Serengeti' is often attributed to a Maasai word siringet, meaning 'the place where the land runs on forever' or 'endless plains,' though this word does not appear in dictionaries of the language. In 1930, Major Richard Hingston, visiting Tanganyika on a mission from the Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire, proposed that the Serengeti Game Reserve be designated as a national park to ensure its protection from the pressures of population growth and economic development. The park was established in 1940, granted strict protection in 1948 when the Serengeti National Park Board of Trustees was formed, and its boundaries were finalized in 1951. In 1959, an area of 8,300 km² was split off in the eastern part of the national park and re-established as Ngorongoro Conservation Area to accommodate the traditional land use interests of the Maasai people. The park gained fame after Bernhard Grzimek and his son Michael produced a book and documentary titled Serengeti Shall Not Die in 1959.
Reader's Guide
Serengeti National Park is significant as a protected area that hosts the world's largest annual animal migration, with over 1.5 million wildebeest and 250,000 zebras moving across an 800 km route. It also contains the largest lion population in Africa, with more than 3,000 lions, and supports diverse wildlife including African bush elephants (over 5,000 by 2014), African buffalo (28,524 by 2008), and over 500 bird species. The park faces threats from deforestation, population growth, poaching, and ranching. Its ecosystem includes the Serengeti plains (almost treeless grassland with koppies), western corridor (with Grumeti and Mbalageti rivers), and northern Serengeti (open woodlands of Commiphora and hills), with the Mara River as the only permanently-flowing river in the Serengeti ecosystem. The park's geology features volcanic grasslands on deposits of volcanic ash from the Kerimasi Volcano (erupted 150,000 years ago) and Ol Doinyo Lengai volcanic eruptions. Human habitation is forbidden except for Tanzania National Parks Authority staff, researchers, and staff of lodges, campsites, and hotels. The park is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and designated as a Category II protected area by IUCN.
Did You Know?
- The name 'Serengeti' is often attributed to a Maasai word siringet, meaning 'the place where the land runs on forever' or 'endless plains,' but this word does not appear in dictionaries of the language.
- In 1994, an outbreak of canine distemper led to the deaths of approximately one-third of the lion population in the area.
- The great migration is the world's second longest overland migration, after caribou migration, with a complete route around 800 km.
- Around 250,000 wildebeests and 30,000 plains zebras die annually from drowning, predation, exhaustion, thirst, or disease during the migration.
- The Serengeti volcanic grasslands grow on deposits of volcanic ash from the Kerimasi Volcano, which erupted 150,000 years ago, and from Ol Doinyo Lengai volcanic eruptions.
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