Introduction
As the sun glows golden in a deep red sky, a cloud of dust appears on the horizon. The great wildebeest migration is the most famous event in the Serengeti's annual calender, but all year round, this National park in Tanzania provides the greatest show on earth. They also have the great chance to see the big five - lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo. WHile in the park you can see as well as thousands of their prey. In the world in general many people, wild animals represent the essential spirit of Africa and as natural as the Serengeti which offers an immense degree of biodiversity and life and death dramas as daily events. The famous annual wildbeast migration may involve as many as about 1.5 million animals undertaking a journey which both arduous and extremely hazardous involving such perils as crossing crocodile infested river.
The park
The famous archaelogical investigation at Olduvai Gorge in the nearby Ngorongoro crater prove that people have roamed the savannah for the last two million years, making this one the earliest places of human existence on earth. The animals at the top of the hunters' list were lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants adn rhinos all of which were plentiful in this region at that time. In 1959 the Serengeti National Park was established. This was done under the presence of protecting the parks wildlife, and has therefore understandably remained a controversial decision over the years.
Africa's most iconic animals are present along with many smaller species such as baboon, monkey, serval cat, hyena, African wild dog and aardwolf. Over 500 different species of bird can be found including ostrich, secretary bird, eagles and vultures. On a small scale there is a great diversity of imsects of 100 different types. The Maasai people traditionally occupied this land and lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle dependant almost entirely on their cattle. Being located in the tropics between 1 and 3 degrees south of the equator, the climate is generally hot with no traditional seasons such as those experiences in the temperate zones but in this area the word "season" normally refers to the rainfall.
The interesting facts about this national park is that it is located within central savannah region, with long grasses, wide acacia trees and olenty of oppurtunities to spot all of the Serengetis's main wildlife. Kopjes are the granite outcrops dotted around the plains of the Serengeti. They act as both lookout posts for predators, and hiding spots for prey. It even support their own ecosystems, with many plants and animals that wouldn't be able to survive elsewhere in the Serengeti inhabiting the rock. They are 250,000 wildbeest die each year during the great annual wildbeest migration, and cause of death is often a result of thirst, exhaustion, hunger or predation.