Serengeti Plains
Plain · 99,080 km²
Serengeti Plains is a plain in Africa, covering an estimated 99,080 km². It extends across Tanzania and Kenya.
The Serengeti ( SERR-ən-GHET-ee) is a geographical region in Africa, spanning the Mara and Arusha Regions of Tanzania and extending to southwestern Kenya. The protected area within the region includes approximately 30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi) of land, including the Serengeti National Park and several game reserves. The Serengeti hosts one of the world's largest land animal migration (in terms of total body weight), which helps secure it as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa.
The Serengeti is also renowned for its large lion population and is one of the best places to observe prides in their natural environment. Approximately 70 large mammal and 500 bird species are found there. This high diversity is a function of diverse habitats, including riverine forests, swamps, kopjes, grasslands, and woodlands. Blue wildebeest, gazelles, zebras, and buffalos are some of the commonly found large mammals in the region. The Serengeti also contains the Serengeti District of Tanzania.
The name "Serengeti" is often said to be derived from the word "seringit" in Maa, meaning "endless plains". However, this etymology does not appear in Maa dictionaries.
Adapted from Wikipedia: Serengeti (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Feature class
- Plain
- Mapped extent
- 99,080 km²
- Size rank
- #65 of 231 landforms
- Region
- Africa
- Countries
- Tanzania, Kenya
- Coordinates
- -3.0072°, 34.1303°
- Summits:
- Lesatima (4,001 m), Mount Elgon (4,321 m), Mount Kenya (5,199 m)
- Ranges:
- Ruwenzori Range (Africa), Ethiopian Highlands (Africa)
More about Serengeti Plains
Ecology
The Serengeti has some of East Africa's finest wildlife areas. Besides being known for the great migration, the Serengeti is also famous for its abundant large predators. The ecosystem is home to over 3,000 lions, 1,000 African leopards, and 7,700 to 8,700 spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). The East African cheetah is also present in Serengeti.
African wild dogs are relatively scarce in much of the Serengeti. This is particularly true in places such as Serengeti National Park (where they became extinct in 1992), in which lions and spotted hyenas, predators that steal wild dog kills and are a direct cause of wild dog mortality, are abundant.
History
For eons, African wildlife have roamed freely across the vast rolling plains of the Serengeti, which was sparsely inhabited by humans. This changed when nomadic pastoralists of the Maasai began to migrate to the area in the early 1800s.
The Maasai, however, were struck by drought and disease. Thousands died in the 1880s from a cholera epidemic and in 1892 from smallpox. Making matters worse, their cattle were wiped out by Rinderpest (a bovine viral disease). Later in the 20th century the Tanzanian government re-settled the Maasai around the Ngorongoro Crater. Poaching, and the absence of fires (which had been caused by humans), allowed dense woodlands and thickets to develop over the next 30–50 years. Tsetse fly populations now prevented any significant human settlement in the area.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Serengeti (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Serengeti Plains: Key Facts
| Area | 30,000 km² |
|---|---|
| On | Lake Victoria |
Facts from Wikidata Q4991540 (CC0).
