This article is about a geographical region; for the National Park see Serengeti National Park The Serengeti National Park ( ) is a large national park in Serengeti area, Tanzania, Africa. ...

A zebra and wildebeests during migration

The Serengeti ecosystem is located in north-western Tanzania and extends to south-western Kenya between latitudes 1 and 3 S and longitudes 34 and 36 E. It spans some 30,000 km.^[1] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 571 pixelsFull resolution‎ (3,087 × 2,205 pixels, file size: 4. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 571 pixelsFull resolution‎ (3,087 × 2,205 pixels, file size: 4. ...

The Serengeti hosts the largest and longest overland migration in the world,^[2] a semi-annual occurrence. This migration is one of the ten natural travel wonders of the world. For other uses, see Wonders of the World (disambiguation). ...

The region contains several national parks and game reserves. Serengeti is derived from the Maasai language, Maa; specifically "Serengit", meaning "Endless Plains".^{[3] [4]} This article is about national parks. ... A game reserve is an area of land set aside for maintenance of wildlife for tourism or hunting purposes. ... Maasai is an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania by the Maasai people, numbering about 900,000. ...

Approximately 70 larger mammal and some 500 avifauna species are found there. This high diversity in terms of species is a function of diverse habitats ranging from riverine forests, swamps, kopjes, grasslands and woodlands. ^[5] Blue Wildebeests, gazelles, zebras and buffalos are some of the commonly found large mammals in the region. Binomial name (Burchell, 1823) The Blue Wildebeest is a large ungulate mammal of the genus Connochaetes which grows to 1. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Zebra (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Syncerus caffer (Sparrman, 1779) Subspecies The African Buffalo or Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a bovid from the family of the Bovidae. ...

Around October, nearly 2 million herbivores travel from the northern hills toward the southern plains, crossing the Mara River, in pursuit of the rains. In April, they then return to the north through the west, once again crossing the Mara River. This phenomenon is sometimes called the Circular Migration. Over 250,000 wildebeest alone will die along the journey from Tanzania to Masai Mara Reserve in upper Kenya, a total of 500 miles. Death is often caused by injury, exhaustion, or predation.^[2] The migration is chronicled in the 1994 documentary film, Africa: The Serengeti. == Headline text == Plains is the name of several places in the [[United usyduisaydashdsdsjdn Plains, North Lanarkshire, Scotland There are also The Plains, Ohio; Plainsboro, New Jersey; and Plainville, Kansas You might also be looking for the geographical feature plain; or the Plains Indians. ... This article describes the Mara River in Africa. ... Wildebeest and zebra migration in Masai Mara The Masai Mara (also spelled Maasai Mara) is a large park reserve in south-western Kenya, which is effectively the northern continuation of the Serengeti National Park game reserve in Tanzania. ... Big cat refers to the medium-to-large wild felids of The Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe. ...

History and Ecology

A young Maasai man (moran or warrior) walks into the Serengeti with the Ngorongoro Highlands as a backdrop.

Much of the Serengeti was known to outsiders as Maasailand. The Maasai were known as fierce warriors, and lived alongside most wild animals with an aversion to eating game and birds, subsisting exclusively on their cattle. Their strength and reputation kept the newly arrived Europeans from exploiting the animals and resources of most of their land. A rinderpest epidemic and drought during the 1890s greatly reduced the numbers of both Maasai and animal populations. Poaching and the absence of fires, which had been the result of human activity, set the stage for the development of dense woodlands and thickets over the next 30-50 years. Tsetse fly populations now prevented any significant human settlement in the area. Fire, elephants, and wildebeest were influential in determining the current character of the Serengeti.^[6] [4] By the 1960s, as human populations increased, fire, either intentionally set by the Maasai to increase area available for pasture, or accidentally, scorched new tree seedlings. Heavy rainfall encouraged the growth of grass, which served as fuel for the fires during the following dry seasons. Older Acacias, which live only 60 to 70 years, began to die. Initially elephants, which feed on both young and old trees, had been blamed for the shrinking woodlands. But experiments showed that other factors were more important. Meanwhile, elephant populations were reduced from 2,460 in 1970 to 467 in 1986 by poaching.^[7] [5] By the mid 1970s wildebeest and African buffalo populations had recovered, and were increasingly cropping the grass, reducing the amount of fuel available for fires.[6] The reduced intensity of fires has allowed Acacia to once again become established.^[8] [7] Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 450 pixelsFull resolution‎ (2,816 × 1,584 pixels, file size: 870 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Steve Pastor Western NCR, Eastern Serengeti, Tanzania October 2006 I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 450 pixelsFull resolution‎ (2,816 × 1,584 pixels, file size: 870 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Steve Pastor Western NCR, Eastern Serengeti, Tanzania October 2006 I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Language(s) Maa (ɔl Maa) Religion(s) Monotheism including Christianity Related ethnic groups Samburu The Masai are an indigenous African ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. ... Rinderpest (RP) is a inflectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and some species of wildlife, it is commonly reffered to as cattle plague. ... Binomial name Glossina morsitans The tsetse fly, Glossina morsitans, is a fly (order Diptera) that eats blood from animals, including humans. ... For other uses, see Acacia (disambiguation). ...

Maasailand now has East Africa's finest game areas.^[9] The governments of Tanzania and Kenya maintain a number of Protected Areas: parks, conservation areas, game reserves, etc, which give legal protection to over 80% of the Serengeti.[8]

Ol Doinyo Lengai, the only active volcano in the area of the Serengeti, is the only volcano which still ejects carbonatite lavas. This material, upon exposure to air, changes from black to white and resembles washing soda. A thick layer of ash can turn into a calcium rich hardpan as tough as cement after rained upon. Tree roots cannot penetrate this layer, and the essentially treeless plains of the Serengeti, which lie to the west and down wind of Ol Doinyo Lengai, are the result.^[10] Ol Doinyo Lengai is a volcano located in Tanzania and is part of the volcanic system of the Great Rift Valley in eastern Africa. ...

A rock outcropping, or koppes, on the Serengeti plain.

The southeastern area lies in the rain shadow of the Ngorongoro highlands and is composed of shortgrass treeless plains with abundant small dicots. Soils are high in nutrients, overlying a shallow calcareous hardpan. A gradient of soil depth northwestward across the plains results in changes in the herbaceous community and taller grass. Some 70 km west, Acacia woodlands appear suddenly and stretch west to Lake Victoria and north to the Loita Plains,[9] north of the Maasai Mara National Reserve. The 16 Acacia species vary over this range, their distribution determined by edaphic conditions and soil depth. Near Lake Victoria there are flood plains developed from ancient lakebeds. In the far northwest, Acacia woodlands are replaced by broadleaved Terminalia-Combretum woodlands, determined by a change in geology. This area has the highest rainfall in the system and forms a refuge for the migrating ungulates at the end of the dry season. [10] Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 275 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,336 × 459 pixels, file size: 111 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Steve Pastor eastern Serengeti, Tanzania October 2006 I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 275 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,336 × 459 pixels, file size: 111 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Steve Pastor eastern Serengeti, Tanzania October 2006 I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Orders see text Dicotyledons or dicots are flowering plants whose seed contains two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. ... For other uses, see Acacia (disambiguation). ... For other places with the same name, see Lake Victoria (disambiguation). ... Wildebeast and Zebra Migration in Masai Mara The Maasai Mara (also spelt Masai Mara) is a large park reserve in south-western Kenya, within the Great Serengeti region, and is effectively the northern continuation of the Serengeti National Park and game reserve in Tanzania. ... Of or relating to soil, especially as it affects living organisms. ...

Altitudes in the Serengeti range from 920 to 1,850 meters with mean temperatures varying from 15 degrees to 25 degrees Celsius. Although the climate is usually warm and dry, rainfall occurs in two rainy seasons: March to May, and a shorter season in October and November. Rainfall amounts vary from a low of 508 mm in the lee of the Ngorongoro Highlands to a high of 1,200 mm on the shores of Lake Victoria.[11] The highlands, which are considerably cooler than the plains and are covered by montane forest, mark the eastern border of the basin in which the Serengeti lies.

The Serengeti plain is punctuated by granite outcroppings known as koppes. These outcroppings are the result of volcanic activity. Koppies provide a microhabitat for non-plains wildlife. One koppe likely to be seen by visitors to the Serengeti is the Simba Koppe (Lion Koppe). The Serengeti was used as inspiration for the animated Disney film The Lion King and subsequent theatrical production. Disney may refer to: The Walt Disney Company and its divisions, including Walt Disney Pictures. ... This article is about Disneys 1994 film. ...

The area is also home to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which contains the Olduvai Gorge, where some of the oldest hominid fossils are found, as well as the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest unbroken volcanic caldera. Ngorongoro redirects here. ... Olduvai Gorge, February 2006 Olduvai Gorge from space Topography of Olduvai Gorge The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge is commonly referred to as The Cradle of Mankind. ... Genera The hominids are the members of the biological family Hominidae (the great apes), which includes humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. ... A fossil Ammonite Fossils are the mineralized remains of animals or plants or other traces such as footprints. ... Ngorongoro crater is the worlds largest unbroken volcanic caldera, sited towards the northwest of Arusha in Tanzania, and is connected to the Serengeti savannah to its immediate south. ... Satellite image of Santorini. ...

See also

• Serengeti National Park
• Maasai tribe
• Animals of the Serengeti
• Plants of the Serengeti

The Serengeti National Park ( ) is a large national park in Serengeti area, Tanzania, Africa. ... Language(s) Maa (ɔl Maa) Religion(s) Monotheism including Christianity Related ethnic groups Samburu The Masai are an indigenous African ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. ...

References

''' Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 73rd day of the year (74th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...