ECOLOGY OF SERENGETI

The Serengeti has some of East Africa’s finest game 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 (Panthera leo), 1,000 leopards (Panthera pardus), and 7,700 to 8,700 spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). The East African cheetah are also present in Serengeti.

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.

The Serengeti is also home to a diversity of grazers, including African buffalo, warthogs, Grant’s gazelle, eland, waterbuck, and topi. The Serengeti can support this remarkable variety of grazers only because each species, even those that are closely related, has a different diet. For example, wildebeests prefer to consume shorter grasses, while zebras prefer taller ones. Similarly, dik-diks eat the lowest leaves of a tree, impalas eat the leaves that are higher up, and giraffes eat leaves that are even higher.

The southeastern area lies in the rain shadow of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area’s highlands and is composed of shortgrass treeless plains with abundant small dicots. Soils are high in nutrients

ANIMAL SPECIES OF SERENGETI

LIONS (PANTHERA LEO)
The lion (Panthera leo) is a species in the family Felidae, it is a muscular, deep-chested cat with a short, rounded head, a reduced neck and round ears, and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. Male lions have a prominent mane, which is the most recognizable feature of the species. With a typical head-to-body length of 184–208 cm (72–82 in) they are larger than females at 160–184 cm (63–72 in). Groups of female lions usually hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. Female do not have mane. Male Lion Female Lion

LEOPARDS (PANTHERA PARDUS)
The leopard or panther (Panthera pardus) is one of the five extant species in the genus Panthera, a member of the Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because leopard populations are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, and are declining in large parts of the global range. Compared to other wild cats, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull.

HYENAS (CROCUTA CROCUTA)
The spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus Crocuta, native to Sub-Saharan Africa.

EAST AFRICAN CHEETAH
The East African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus), is a cheetah population in East Africa. It lives in grasslands and savannas of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Somalia. The cheetah inhabits mainly the Serengeti ecosystem, including Maasa Mara. In 2007, the total number of cheetahs in East Africa were estimated at 1,960 to 2,572 adults and independent adolescents. East African cheetahs form the second-largest population after the Southern African cheetah. In 2007, there were between 569 and 1,007 cheetahs in Tanzania

AFRICAN BUFFALO
The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a large Sub-Saharan African bovine, the Cape buffalo, is the typical subspecies, and the largest one, found in Southern and East Africa

WARTHOGS
These pigs live in open and semiopen habitats, even in quite arid regions. Although covered in bristly hairs, their bodies and heads appear largely naked from a distance, with only the crest along the back, and the tufts on their cheeks and tails being obviously haired

GRANT’S GAZELLE
The Grant’s gazelle (Nanger granti, syn. Gazella granti) is a species of gazelle distributed from northern Tanzania to South Sudan and Ethiopia, and from the Kenyan coast to Lake Victoria. Its Swahili name is swala granti. The Grant’s gazelle stands 75–95 cm (30–37 in) at the shoulder. The females weigh from 35 to 50 kg (77 to 110 lb) and males from 50 to 80 kg (110 to 180 lb) Its coat is a beige orange on the back with a white belly. The Grant’s gazelle looks similar to a Thomson’s gazelle, except it is much larger and has lyre-shaped horns which are stout at the base, clearly ringed, and measuring 45–81 cm (18–32 in) long

WATERBUCK
The waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa particularly Tanzania in Serengeti national park. The waterbuck may form herds consisting of six to 30 individuals. These groups are either nursery herds with females or their offspring or bachelor herds. Males start showing territorial behaviour from the age of five years, but are most dominant from the age of six to nine. Waterbuck inhabit scrub and savanna areas along rivers, lakes and valleys. Due to their requirement for grasslands as well as water, the waterbuck have a sparse ecotone distribution

TOPI
The topi is a highly social and fast antelope subspecies of the common tsessebe, a species which belongs to the genus Damaliscus. They are found in the savannas, semi-deserts, and floodplains of sub-Saharan Africa. Topi resemble hartebeest but have a darker coloration and lack sharply angled horns. They have elongated heads, a distinct hump at the base of the neck, and reddish brown bodies with dark purple patchings on their upper legs. They also have a mask-like dark coloration on the face

WILDEBEESTS
The wildebeest belong to the family Bovidae, which includes antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-toed horned ungulates. Wildebeest are most tourist attraction and often graze in mixed herds with zebra, which gives heightened awareness of potential predators. In East Africa, the blue wildebeest is the most abundant big-game species; some populations perform an annual migration to new grazing grounds, but the black wildebeest is merely nomadic. Breeding in both takes place over a short period of time at the end of the rainy season and the calves are soon active and are able to move with the herd, a fact necessary for their survival.

ZEBRAS
Zebra is the one of species found in Serengeti united by their distinctive black-and-white striped coats. Their stripes come in different patterns, unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds

DIK-DIKS
Dik-diks stand about 30–40 centimetres (12–15.5 in) at the shoulder, are 50–70 cm (19.5–27.5 in) long, weigh 3–6 kilograms (6.6–13.2 lb) and can live for up to 10 years. Dik-diks are named for the alarm calls of the females. In addition to the females’ alarm call, both the male and female make a shrill, whistling sound. These calls may alert other animals to predators.

IMPALAS
The impala is a medium-sized antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The impala is found in woodlands and sometimes on the interface (ecotone) between woodlands and savannahs; it inhabits places close to water.

GIRAFFES
The giraffe is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant. The giraffe’s chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its distinctive coat patterns. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fruits and flowers of woody plants, primarily acacia species, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot reach

ALTITUDE & CLIMATIC OF SERENGETI

Altitudes in the Serengeti range from 920 to 1,850 meters (3,020 to 6,070 ft.) with mean temperatures varying from 15 to 25 °C (59 to 77 °F). 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 millimeters (20 in) in the lee of the Ngorongoro highlands to a high of 1,200 millimeters (47 in) on the shores of Lake Victoria

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