Serengeti National Park, Kenya

Executive summary by darmansjah

The Serengeti National Park is a Tanzanian national park in the Serengeti ecosystem in the Mara and Simiyu regions. It is famous for its annual migration of over 1.5 million white bearded (or brindled) wildebeest and 250,000 zebra and for its numerous Nile crocodile.

The park covers 14,750 km2 (5,700 sq mi) of grassland plains and savanna as well as riverine forest and woodlands. The park lies in the north of Tanzania, bordered to the north by the Kenyan border, where it is continuous with the Maasai Mara National Reserve. To the southeast of the park is the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, to the southwest lies Maswa Game Reserve, to the west are the Ikorongo and Grumeti Game Reserves, and to the northeast lies the Loliondo Game Control Area. Together, these areas form the larger Serengeti ecosystem.

Human habitation is forbidden in the park with the exception of staff for the Tanzania National Parks Authority, researchers and staff of Frankfurt Zoological Society, and staff of the various lodges and hotels. The main settlement is Seronera, which houses the majority of research staff and the park's main headquarters, including its primary airstrip.

The park is usually described as divided into three regions:

Serengeti plains: the endless, almost treeless grassland of the south is the most emblematic scenery of the park. Other hoofed animals - zebra, gazelle, impala, hartebeest, topi, buffalo, waterbuck - also occur in huge numbers during the wet season.     Western corridor: the "black cotton" (actually black clay) soil covers the swampy savannah of this region. The Grumeti River is home to enormous Nile crocodiles, colobus monkey, and the martial eagle. The migration passes through from May to July.

Northern Serengeti: the landscape is dominated by open woodlands (predominantly Commiphora) and hills, ranging from Seronera in the south, to the Mara river in the border with Kenya. More than 3,000 lions live in this ecosystem.

African Leopard: these reclusive predators are commonly seen in the Seronera region but are present throughout the national park with the population at around 1,000.

African Elephant: the herds are recovering from population lows in the 1980s caused by poaching and are largely located in the northern regions of the park.

Individuals from the Masai Mara Reserve cross the park border and enter Serengeti from the northern section at times.

African Buffalo: still abundant and present in healthy numbers, but numbers have been somewhat reduced due to disease.

An impala at the park in March 2011

The park also supports many other species, including cheetah, Thomson's and Grant's gazelle, topi, eland, waterbuck, hyena, baboon, impala, African wild dog, and giraffe. The park also boasts about 500 bird species, including ostrich, secretary bird, Kori bustard, crowned crane, marabou stork, martial eagle, lovebirds, and many species of vultures.