Located in northern Tanzania, Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA)
shares part of the Serengeti plains to the northwest and with the city
of Arusha, municipality of Moshi and Mount Kilimanjaro to the east.
Ngorongoro also forms part of the Serengeti ecosystem and is home to about 2.5 million wild animals, a huge population, indeed.
The area is one of the most favoured tourist spots not only in
Tanzania, but also the entire world. A major ecological survey of the
Serengeti Reserve (which then included Ngorongoro) by Dr Bernhard
Grzimek and his son in the late 1950s resulted in the establishment of
the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in 1959.
The conservation area became a pioneering experiment in multiple land
use where pastoralism, conservation and tourism could co-exist. At the
same time Serengeti National Park was enlarged and extended northwards
to the Kenyan border, where it borders the Maasai Mara Game Park in
Kenya.
Subsequently awarded World Heritage Site and International Biosphere
Reserve status, the NCA covers 8,292 square kilometres and ranges in
altitude from 1,020 metres to 3,587 metres. The terrain embraces several
distinct habitats from open grasslands to mountain forest and from
scrub bushland to highland heath.
An estimated 25,000 wild animals live in the Crater throughout the
year, whilst in the NCA as a whole the numbers can swell to more than
2.5 million, depending on the season. The NCA aims to maintain the
historic balance of people and nature in a way which has not been
possible in many parts of Africa.
At stake are the rich biodiversity and ecology of the Serengeti
Plains and Ngorongoro highlands, the major archaeological sites and the
vital water catchment areas. Within all this, man and wildlife have to
live together without harm or destroying each other's habitats.
Man and his ancestors have lived in the Ngorongoro ecosystem for more
than three million years. Evidence of a regional hunter-gatherer
culture dates back 17,000 years and it is clear that various tribes have
migrated in and out of the area, just as they have done in relatively
recent times.
Nine volcanoes in the Ngorongoro highlands were formed during the
past four million years. One of the volcanoes, Oldonyo Lengai (Mountain
of God) is still active. Over millennia the ash and dust from each
eruption has been carried by the winds to form the fertile soils of the
Serengeti Plains.
The earliest sign of mankind in the NCA is at Laetoli where hominid
footprints are preserved in volcanic rock 3.6 million years old. Further
north, Olduvai Gorge has yielded a wealth of hominid and animal
remains. The jewel in Ngorongoro's crown is a deep volcanic crater - the
largest unbroken caldera in the world - 19.2 kilometres in diameter;
610 metres deep and 304 square kilometres in area.
This pasture and permanent water supports up to 25,000 predominantly
grazing animals. These include wildebeests, zebras, gazelles, buffaloes,
elands, kongoni and warthogs. The swamps and forest provide additional
resources for hippos, elephants, waterbucks, reedbucks, bushbucks,
baboons and vervet monkeys.
Cheetahs live in the crater. The steep inner slopes provide a habitat
for dikdiks and the rare mountain reedbucks. Jackals thrive in the
crater and bat-eared foxes live in the short grass areas. Predatory
animals such as lions, leopards, cheetahs, and several species of lesser
wild cats live off the abundant wildlife
Large packs of hyenas roam the crater making their own kills and
scavenging from the kills of other predators. The crater is a dynamic
and constantly changing ecosystem and the numbers and proportion of some
animals has fluctuated considerably over the past 30 years. Lions are
abundant in the crater.
There are five main crater prides of between ten and 20 animals, each
defending its own territory. Only male elephants descend regularly to
the Ngorongoro Crater floor. The large breeding herds wander throughout
the forest rim where they find the most suitable food.
Black rhinos in the Ngorongoro Crater are relatively safe to
approach. Their population is relatively small - about 20 individuals.
The crater is one of only a few places in East Africa where visitors can
be certain of seeing rhinos. The Lerai Forest in the south-west of the
crater is dominated by yellow-barked acacia trees. Here visitors find
large herds of elands and elephants.
Also present are vervet monkeys, bushbucks, tree hyraxes, francolins,
saddle-billed storks, vultures and eagles. A picnic site is located in
the forest. Lake Magadi is alkaline mainly due to deposits of volcanic
ash. The depth, never more than three metres, varies during the year.
During the dry season it shrinks dramatically. The lake's edges are
fovourite stalking grounds for golden jackals, lions and hyenas. Gorigor
Swamp, which rises from Ngoitokitok Springs, is home to many
waterbirds. Hippos lounge in the deeper parts of the swamp and grazing
animals come to drink
Further afield, Oldonyo Lengai is a volcano located outside the NCA,
to the north-east near Lake Natron. This volcano has had a major
influence in the development of the area. Its ash has blown westwards
onto the plains and helped shape the landscape and ecology.
It is the only active volcano in the area, having erupted in 1966 and
1983. The Northern Highland Forest Reserve extends in a wide band along
the outer, southern and eastern slopes of the Ngorongoro Conservation
Area. It is a vital source of water for wildlife and people living in
the conservation area.
The southern area is used for farming. The forest is home to
elephants, buffaloes, the elusive leopards and many species of birds.
Visitors approaching Ngorongoro by the southern route pass through part
of the forest before arriving at the Ngorongoro Crater rim where they
see a wide view of the caldera.
Although smaller than the Ngorongoro Crater, Olmoti and Embakaai
craters in the north of the NCA are noted for their beauty and solitude.
The floors of both craters are easily accessible on foot, but the NCA
advises visitors to be accompanied by local guides.
The rim of Olmoti Crater stands at 3,700 metres but the crater itself
is relatively shallow. The grassy caldera is home to elands, bushbucks
and sometimes buffaloes, along with the Maasai and their livestock.
Water flows across the crater to the southern side where it pours out through a cleft.
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