SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK .

KENYA | TANZANIA | UGANDA | ZANZIBAR


Serengeti is situated 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.

The park has been a 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The park has been the centre for major research for the past 30 years. The Serengeti Wildlife Research Institute (SWRI) has a research centre at Seronera. This has well-equipped laboratories, a library, herbarium and accommodation for visiting scientists. Projects active during 1992 included the continuation of long-term research on ecosystem processes, the behavioural ecology of lion, leopard and ungulates, population dynamics and reproduction of mongoose, and the ecology of dung beetles and termites. A programme on the behaviour and ecology of the African wild dog used radio-collaring techniques to monitor 22 individuals (SWRC, 1993). When the wild dog population disappeared from the park in 1991, controversy erupted over whether the stress of handling the dogs to fit radio-collars helped cause their disappearance (Morell, 1995; Dye, 1996; East and Hofer, 1996). A number of externally funded scientists conduct research at the SWRI, and the staff of the Tanzania Wildlife Conservation Monitoring (TWCM) programme have taken over the long term ecological monitoring programme, and carry out regular aerial surveys and wildlife censuses (SRCS, 1992).

Serengeti National Park, with its herds of ungulates and their associated predators, is the last remnant of a Pleistocene large mammal ecosystem in all its complexity. The park, in combination with the contiguous Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Maasai Mara National Park, is sufficiently large to ensure the survival of this savanna ecosystem.

 

 

Olduvai Gorge is an archaeological site located in the eastern Serengeti Plains, which is in northern Tanzania. The gorge is a very steep sided ravine roughly 30 miles long and 295 ft. deep. Exposed deposits show rich fossil fauna, many hominid remains and items belonging to the one of the oldest stone tool technologies, called Olduwan. The time span of the objects recovered date from 2,100,000 to 15,000 years ago.

The main Olduvai Beds are in a lake basin about 16 miles in diameter. The rocks under the basin date to 5.3 million years ago. There have been seven major Beds distinguished they are ranked from oldest to youngest; Bed I, Bed II, Bed III, Bed IV, the Masek Beds, the Ndutu Beds, and Baisiusiu Beds.

Bed I dates to 2,100,000 years old and is 197 feet thick. It is mainly formed of lava flows, volcanic-ash deposits and other sediments. The upper part of the bed contains varied fauna and evidence of the Olduwan industry. Skeletal remains of hominids are assigned to the Homo Habilis an Australopithecus Boisei families. Campsites and what is believed to be a butchery site have also been excavated from this bed.

The Hominid living sites in Bed I are found mainly where streams from the volcanic highlands carried fresh water to Olduvai lake. The conditions for the preservation of the sites is mainly due to the ash falls from the nearby volcanoes and the inconsistency of the lake's depth. The debris found at the sites are various Olduwan tools, bone and teeth from animals, mainly from fair sized antelopes. Also a loosely built circle of lava blocks was found, suggesting that crude shelters were formed here as well.

The living sites in Beds II-IV are normally found in what would have been river and stream channels. Therefore, many of the sites were displaced by water action.

Bed II is 66-98 feet thick and is 1,150,000 to 1,700,000 years old. It has two main divisions of rock layer, upper and lower, that were separated by an erosional break. The lower part of Bed II is similar to Bed I. The upper part was formed after fault shifts had reduced the ancient lakes size. It is in this part of Bed II that the development of the Acheulian industry starts to show. Here also are the remains of Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus and Australopithecus Boisei.

The gorge was modified by fault shifting and erosion. It is after these geographical changes that Beds III and IV were created. These two Beds range from 1,150,00 to 600,000 years ago. These two Beds are separable only in the eastern part of the gorge and are combined elsewhere into a single unit. They have a maximum thickness of about 98 feet and consists mainly of sediment from streams that fed Olduvai Lake.

During a period of major faulting and volcanism roughly 400,000 to 600,000 years ago, the Masek Beds accumulated. They are up to 82 ft. thick and again contain mostly stream sediments with some aeolian (wind-worked) tuff. It is assumed the climate at this time was probably much like today based on the deposits found there. There is only one major archaeological site found in these beds and it is of the Acheulian tool industry.

The Ndutu Beds were formed by faulting, erosion and the filling of the gorge around 32,000 years ago. It consists mainly of aeolian tuff. In this Bed two sites have been found which date to the Middle Stone Age.

The last of the archaeological Beds is the Naisiusiu. It lays in the bottom of the Gorge at what is now the present depth. It only has a depth of 33 ft and also consists of aeolian tuff. It contains one site that has microlithic tools and one complete Homo Sapien skeleton, both of which date to 17,000 years ago.

To visit Serengeti, please talk to our staff below.

Mrs Maggie Mlengeya (Managing Director)

Email: serengetiso@yahoo.com

Tel 255-27-253 7095 OR Cell 255-748-40 6996

 Or

Rafiki Africa, New Mwanza Hotel.

Tel 255-28- 49040 OR Cell 255-748- 32 1180

Email: rafikiafrika@yahoo.com

 Or

Kirstin Lightfoot,

567 SE Shoemaker Place, Pullman, WA 99163, USA.

Tel 509-339-24-9, Email: kirstin@vetmed.wsu.edu


Or Contact Your Travel Agent for details
 


   

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