Serengeti national park headquarters

Serengeti National Park is situated in the Serengeti District, which is one of the seven districts in the Northern Arusha Region of the Mara Region in Tanzania. The district is governed through administrative cells, serengeti national park  headquarters located is  Mugumu town in the western section of the park, adjacent to the western entrance.

The Mara region, situated in Northern Tanzania, is one of the country’s most renowned areas, originally designated as the Lake Region during colonial control before being renamed to Mara region. The Mara Region adjoins the Arusha Region to the southeast, the Kagera Region to the northeast, and the Mwanza Region to the south. The Mara region is renowned as the birthplace of Julius Nyerere, the first president of Tanzania.

According to the National Census of Tanzania, the population of Serengeti District was 249,420 in 2002. The administrative entities of the Serengeti district are subdivided into 28 wards, which comprise the following:

In which district is Serengeti National Park situated?

The Serengeti National Park is comprised of the following areas: Kisangura, Morotonga, Nyansurura, Geitasamo, Kyambahi, Mosongo, Rigicha, IKoma, Machochwe, Mugumu, Ringwani, Issenye, Magange, Natta, Rungabure, Kebanchabancha, Majimoto, Nyamatare, Sedeco, Kenyamonta, Manchira, Nyambureti, Stendi Kuu, Kisaka, Mbalibali, Nyamoko, Uwanja wa Ndege.

Maasai Mara in Kenya to the north, Butiama and Bunda districts to the west, and Ngorongoro district to the south, define the boundary of the Serengeti district. Nearby Tanzania’s Mara region are some of the country’s most popular tourist destinations, including the Serengeti, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, and Ngorongoro conservation area. The District of Serengeti encompasses the Serengeti Mara environment, which includes game reserves, local communities, and the national park.

The Serengeti ecosystem is a geographical area located in northern Tanzania, Africa. The Serengeti National Park and several other game parks are part of the protected area that covers about 30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi).

History of Serengeti National Park

Serengeti National Park is a Tanzanian national park located inside the Serengeti ecosystem, spanning the Mara and Simiyu areas. In addition to its large population of Nile crocodiles, it is well-known for the yearly migration of nearly 1.5 million white-bearded (or brindled) wildebeest and 250,000 zebra.

By the time German explorer Oscar Baumann arrived in the region in 1892, the Maasai people had been grazing their cattle on the vast plains of the eastern Mara Region for about 200 years, a place they called the “endless plains.” The term “Serengeti” approximates the Maasai word siringet, signifying “the place where the land extends indefinitely.”

Stewart Edward White, the inaugural Briton to traverse the Serengeti, documented his discoveries in the northern region in 1913. In the 1920s, Stewart revisited the Serengeti and established a camp in the vicinity of Seronera for a duration of three months. During this period, he and his associates killed 50 lions.

Due to the depletion of lion populations from hunting, the British colonial administration established a partial game reserve of 800 acres (3.2 km²) in 1921, followed by a complete reserve in 1929. These activities formed the foundation for the establishment of Serengeti National Park in 1951.

The Serengeti received greater prominence following the pioneering efforts of Bernhard Grzimek and his son Michael in the 1950s. They collaboratively created the book and film Serengeti Shall Not Die, which is widely acknowledged as a seminal work in the field of environmental conservation documentaries.

In 1959, the British displaced the indigenous Maasai from the park to safeguard animals, relocating them to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This action remains highly contentious, with allegations of coercion and deception attributed to the colonial authority.

Tanzania’s oldest national park serves as the cornerstone of the nation’s tourist sector, attracting visitors to the Northern Safari Circuit, which includes Lake Manyara National Park, Tarangire National Park, Arusha National Park, and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Serengeti National Park  geography

The park has 14,750 km² (5,700 sq mi) of grassland plains, savanna, riverine forest, and forest. The park is situated in northern Tanzania, adjacent to the Kenyan border, where it connects with the Maasai Mara National Reserve. To the southeast of the park is the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, to the southwest is the Maswa Game Reserve, to the west are the Ikorongo and Grumeti Game Reserves, and to the northeast is the Loliondo Game Control Area. Collectively, these regions constitute the expansive Serengeti ecosystem.

The park is typically characterized as segmented into three areas.

Serengeti Plains

The Serengeti plains, characterized by vast, mostly treeless grasslands in the south, represent the park’s most iconic landscape. The wildebeest breed in this location, remaining on the plains from December to May. Other ungulates — zebra, gazelle, impala, hartebeest, topi, buffalo, waterbuck – also appear in substantial quantities during the wet season. “Kopjes” are granite formations prevalent in the region, serving as excellent vantage points for predators and providing shelter for hyraxes and pythons.

Western Corridor

The western corridor features “black cotton” soil, which is a black clay, and includes the swampy savannah of the area. The Grumeti River hosts substantial Nile crocodiles, colobus monkeys and the martial eagle. The migration occurs from May to July.

Northern Serengeti national Park

The Northern Serengeti features a landscape characterized by wide forests, primarily composed of Commiphora, and hills, extending from Seronera in the south to the Mara River at the Kenyan border. In addition to the migrating wildebeest and zebra, which are there from July to August and in November, the bushy savannah is the optimal habitat for elephants, giraffes, and dik diks.

Human habitation is prohibited in the park, except for personnel of the Tanzania National Parks Authority, researchers and workers of the Frankfurt Zoological Society, and employees of the numerous resorts, campsites, and hotels. The principal village is Seronera, which accommodates the majority of research personnel and serves as the Serengeti National Park’s central headquarters, including its primary airfield.

In addition to the migration of ungulates, the park is renowned for its robust population of resident species, especially the “big five,” which refers to the five most coveted trophies pursued by hunters:
The Serengeti is thought to possess the largest lion population in Africa, attributed in part to the plentiful prey species. Over 3,000 lions inhabit this ecosystem.

African Leopard: These elusive carnivores are frequently observed in the Seronera region, however they inhabit the entirety of the national park, with an estimated population of over 1,000 individuals.

African Elephant: the herds are rebounding from population declines in the 1980s due to poaching and are predominantly situated in the northern areas of the park.

The Black Rhinoceros is primarily located around the kopjes in the park’s center, with a dwindling population due to extensive poaching. Individuals from the Masai Mara Reserve occasionally traverse the park boundary and reach the Serengeti from the northern region.

African Buffalo: remains plentiful and exists in robust populations.

The park additionally accommodates numerous other species, such as cheetahs, Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelles, topis, elands, waterbucks, hyenas, baboons, impalas, African wild dogs, and giraffes. The park features around 500 avian species, including the ostrich, secretary bird, Kori bustard, crowned crane, marabou stork, martial eagle, lovebirds, and numerous vulture species.

Management and safeguarding

The park has been designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization due to its biodiversity and ecological importance. Designated as a Category II protected area by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the national park must be managed through legal instruments or other effective means to safeguard the entire ecosystem and its ecological processes.

The governing entity for all parks in Tanzania is the Tanzania National Parks Authority. Myles Turner was among the inaugural game wardens of the park and is recognized for curbing its extensive poaching activities. In his autobiography, My Serengeti Years:

“Photograph Serengeti” is a scientific initiative by the University of Minnesota Lion Project aimed at classifying over 30 animal species within the park through the use of 225 camera traps to enhance understanding of their interactions with one another and with lions.

Proposed roadway traversing the northern Serengeti

In July 2010, President Jakaya Kikwete reaffirmed his endorsement for an enhanced roadway traversing the northern section of the park to connect Mto wa Mbu, southeast of Ngorongoro Crater, with Musoma on Lake Victoria. Although he asserted that the route would facilitate essential development in impoverished villages, others, notably conservation organizations and foreign nations such as Kenya, contended that the project may cause irreversible harm to the Great Migration and the park’s ecosystem. The Africa Network for Animal Welfare, along with many other organizations and individuals, is litigating against the Tanzanian government at the East African Court of Justice in Arusha to halt the road project. The trial of the African Network for Animal Welfare (ANAW) against the Honorable Attorney General of the United Republic of Tanzania was set to commence on 23 January 2013.

 

Proposed elimination of roads throughout the Lake Victoria region

The Commander in Chief has suggested the enlargement of Serengeti National Park to encompass Lake Victoria. This would increase its size. Certain animals are parched and lack access to potable water or unpolluted air. By the turn of the 20th century, Lake Victoria housed about 500 fish species, the majority of which were endemic to the lake. The introduction of Nile perch (Lates niloticus) in 1960 initiated the extinction of more than 300 cichlid species. There exist a minimum of 600 different kinds of algae exist within aquatic habitats. In the early 2000s, approximately 31 species of frogs and toads and around 28 species of reptiles were documented in the basin. Of the 235 freshwater bird species documented in British East Africa, 170 (72%) are linked to the Lake Victoria aquatic systems, with 88 of these being water birds. Birds utilize water ecosystems as their habitat and food supply. Birds favor muddy and wooded environments, mostly for foraging and shelter. Approximately 44 mammalian species were documented in the wetlands.