Serengeti National Park

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Lore & Background

The name 'Serengeti' is often attributed to a Maasai word siringet, meaning 'the place where the land runs on forever' or 'endless plains,' though this word does not appear in dictionaries of the language. In 1930, Major Richard Hingston, visiting Tanganyika on a mission from the Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire, proposed that the Serengeti Game Reserve be designated as a national park to ensure its protection from the pressures of population growth and economic development. The park was established in 1940, granted strict protection in 1948 when the Serengeti National Park Board of Trustees was formed, and its boundaries were finalized in 1951. In 1959, an area of 8,300 km² was split off in the eastern part of the national park and re-established as Ngorongoro Conservation Area to accommodate the traditional land use interests of the Maasai people. The park gained fame after Bernhard Grzimek and his son Michael produced a book and documentary titled Serengeti Shall Not Die in 1959.

Reader's Guide

Serengeti National Park is significant as a protected area that hosts the world's largest annual animal migration, with over 1.5 million wildebeest and 250,000 zebras moving across an 800 km route. It also contains the largest lion population in Africa, with more than 3,000 lions, and supports diverse wildlife including African bush elephants (over 5,000 by 2014), African buffalo (28,524 by 2008), and over 500 bird species. The park faces threats from deforestation, population growth, poaching, and ranching. Its ecosystem includes the Serengeti plains (almost treeless grassland with koppies), western corridor (with Grumeti and Mbalageti rivers), and northern Serengeti (open woodlands of Commiphora and hills), with the Mara River as the only permanently-flowing river in the Serengeti ecosystem. The park's geology features volcanic grasslands on deposits of volcanic ash from the Kerimasi Volcano (erupted 150,000 years ago) and Ol Doinyo Lengai volcanic eruptions. Human habitation is forbidden except for Tanzania National Parks Authority staff, researchers, and staff of lodges, campsites, and hotels. The park is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and designated as a Category II protected area by IUCN.

Did You Know?

• The name 'Serengeti' is often attributed to a Maasai word siringet, meaning 'the place where the land runs on forever' or 'endless plains,' but this word does not appear in dictionaries of the language.
• In 1994, an outbreak of canine distemper led to the deaths of approximately one-third of the lion population in the area.
• The great migration is the world's second longest overland migration, after caribou migration, with a complete route around 800 km.
• Around 250,000 wildebeests and 30,000 plains zebras die annually from drowning, predation, exhaustion, thirst, or disease during the migration.
• The Serengeti volcanic grasslands grow on deposits of volcanic ash from the Kerimasi Volcano, which erupted 150,000 years ago, and from Ol Doinyo Lengai volcanic eruptions.