Top 10 Little-Known Facts About The Serengeti

Top 10 Little-Known Facts About The Serengeti  : In the Republic of Tanzania, Serengeti National Park spans an area of about 5,700 square miles. The Serengeti extends into Kenya in what is known as the Maasai Mara National Reserve in the country’s northwest. It is Tanzania’s oldest national park and the main reason travelers come here. The Serengeti is located in the so-called Northern Tanzania Safari Circuit, which also includes Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and Arusha National Park.

The Maasai word Siringet, which means a place where land extends forever, is where the name Serengeti originates. Before the first European explorer, Oscar Baumann, arrived in the area in 1892, the Masai had been residing in the Serengeti plains for more than 200 years. The Serengeti attracted sport hunters from both Europe and the United States at that time because it had arguably the greatest number of big game in Africa. The British colonial administration was forced to make it a partial game reserve in 1921 due to the unrestricted lion hunting. It had reached full reserve status by 1929. This made it possible for the Serengeti National Reserve to be established in 1951. The Serengeti now includes the Ngorongoro Conservation Area as well. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area was established as a separate reserve later in 1959.

It is the most well-known national park in all of Africa and the ideal vacation spot for all animal lovers. But how much do you know about this Tanzania’s magnificent Serengeti National Park? Are you considering visiting the reserve to see the Great Migration in action or to cross off the Big Five from your bucket list? If so, keep reading to learn more about the Serengeti from our list of 10 fascinating facts.

1. The Serengeti is one of the planet’s oldest and most important ecosystems from a scientific standpoint. The region has a prehistoric feel due to its weather patterns, fauna, and flora, which are thought to have changed very little over a million years.

 

2. The larger Serengeti ecosystem consists of the Serengeti National Park itself, the Kenyan Masai Mara National Reserve, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Maswa Game Reserve, and the Loliondo, Grumeti, and Ikorongo Game Controlled Areas.

 

3. The term “Serengeti” comes from the Maasai word Siringit, which means “endless plains.” An accurate description given that the entire ecosystem covers more than 12,000 miles (30,000 kilometers)!

 

4. The “Great Migration,” the largest animal migration in the world, takes place in the Serengeti. From the Ndutu region of the southern Serengeti northward through the entirety of the “endless plains” to Kenya’s Masai Mara, a total of 500 miles (800 km) and more than 1.7 million wildebeest, 500,000 zebra, and 200,000 antelope travel. Following the annual cycle of rains and new grass, this cyclical migration starts in March (followed by the annual birth of the calves at Ndutu in February) and ends with their return in January. Around 250,000 wildebeest alone perish during this time due to dehydration, hunger, exhaustion, and predators.

 

5. In 2013, the Great Migration of the Serengeti was named one of Africa’s Seven Natural Wonders. The Red Sea Reef System, Mount Kilimanjaro, the Sahara Desert, Ngorongoro Crater, the Nile River, and the Okavango Delta are the other attractions. (Note that Tanzania is home to three of the seven.)

6. When the first European explorers arrived, the Maasai tribe had been grazing their cattle in the Serengeti plains for about 200 years. Dr. Oscar Baumann, a German geographer, arrived there in 1892. Stewart Edward White, the first Briton to visit the Serengeti, documented his travels in 1913. A full game reserve was established in 1929 after the first partial one of 800 acres (3.2 sq km) was established in 1921. Serengeti National Park, which was gazetted in 1951, was based on these reserves.

 

7. Droughts and a cattle disease decimated the Serengeti’s wildlife population in the 1890s, especially the wildebeest. The wildebeest and buffalo populations didn’t fully recover until the middle of the 1970s, Top 10 Little-Known Facts About The Serengeti

 

8. Every species of African savanna mammal can be easily seen in the Serengeti, with the exception of the rhinoceros, which poachers have decimated, and hunting dogs, whose numbers are steadily declining. The open grass plains where grazing animals congregate make it the best place in East Africa to observe predators in action; as a result, predators are numerous and readily apparent to safari tourists.

 

9. Kopjes, which are geological marvels made of exposed gneiss and granite and are dispersed throughout the south-central Serengeti and are shaped by temperature and wind changes, are pronounced similarly to the word “copy.” Kopjes are a preferred resting place for lions because of their sun-warmed rocks, vegetation that provides shade, and their elevation several meters above the plains. It appears that Pride Rock in Disney’s The Lion King was modeled after a specific Serengeti kopje called Simba Kopje, Top 10 Little-Known Facts About The Serengeti

 

10. The government of Tanzania announced plans to construct a 53-kilometer commercial highway through the Serengeti National Park’s northern region in 2010. The highway would speed up the movement of people and goods across the nation, but it would also harm the ecosystem if it were finished. The highway would promote habitation, invasive species, conflicts between people and wildlife, poaching, disruption of migration routes, and ecosystem fragmentation. Although the “Serengeti Highway” is currently being prevented from being built by the courts, this is not to say that it won’t happen eventually.

EXPLORE SERENGETI, SEE THE SERENGETI FOR YOURSELF.

We sincerely hope you have enjoyed learning about some Serengeti National Park facts. You can start making travel arrangements now that you know more about the Serengeti! The Serengeti is one of many wonderful wild places that can be preserved with the help of tourism. It demonstrates that preserving these areas would be more beneficial to local economies than having them destroyed for development. If you want to experience a Tanzanian safari for yourself, look through our blog.