Ngorongoro Crater. Be part of the Serengeti National Park ; current Ngorongoro Conservation Area and World Heritage Site; in 1981 the UNESCO recognized the Serengeti-Ngorongoro area as Biosphere Reserve .
Summary
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- 1 Geographical location
- 2 History
- 3 Features
- 1 Vegetation
- 2 Fauna
- 3 Paleontology
- 4 Human population
- 4 Main tourist attractions
- 5 Sources
Geographic location
Topography of the region
It is located in the extreme north of Tanzania , 90 kms west of Arusha , bordering the extreme southeast of the Serengeti National Park .
It is part of an immense 36,086 km² protected territory made up of the 8,288 km² of Ngorongoro itself, the 14,763 km² of the Serengeti in the northwest, the 2,200 km² of the Maswa Reserve in the west, the 4,000 km² of the Loliondo Controlled Hunting Zone in the north, the 5,000 km² of the Ikorongo-Grumeti Controlled Hunting Area in the north, the 1,510 km² of the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya and the 325 km² of Lake Manyara 15 km to the south.
History
As a protected space it is already old. In 1928 the prohibition of hunting in the crater was established and in 1929 the Serengeti Game Reserve was created ; in 1951 , the Ngorongoro Reserve became part of the Serengeti National Park; in 1959 land was added to create the current Ngorongoro Conservation Area, recognizing the right to use to continue herding that the Maasai had traditionally been exercising; in 1975 cultivation in the crater was prohibited; in 1979 it became part of the World Heritage of Humanity; in 1981 the UNESCO recognizes the Serengeti-Ngorongoro space as a Biosphere Reserve.
Excavations at the Olduvai and Laetoli Gorge in the west of the Reserve have resulted in discoveries such as 3.5 million year old Homo Habilis, and have made the region one of the most important sites for research on the evolution of the human species.
characteristics
Its altitude ranges from 960 meters of the crater to 3,648 meters of altitude of Mount Loolmalasin . The crater is the world’s largest intact caldera of a volcano that is neither active nor flooded, although it contains a small saline lake, Lake Makat and the Gorigor Swamp. It measures almost 18 kms by 21 kms, with an area of 264 km², occupying 3% of the total Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
It has a difference in level between the base of the crater and its edges of between 400 meters and 610 meters. 1000 mts area rises over the plains of the Serengeti in the east. Its highlands have four extinct volcanic peaks that exceed 3,000 m in altitude, including the Loolmalasin (3,648 m), Oldeani (3,188 m) and Lomagrut massifs . It is estimated that there was volcanic activity during the Tertiary, at the end of the Mesozoic.
In the lands high, the weather is generally wet and foggy, while temperatures in semiarid plains can drop to 2 ° C, and can often be raised to 35 ° C
Annual rainfall, with rains between November and April, varies from 500 mm in the arid plains in the west to 1,700 mm in the forested slopes of the east, increasing with altitude.
Vegetation
Mountain meadows
The base of the crater is composed of plains where large trees grow
Variations in climate, landforms, and variations in altitude have shaped several well-defined ecosystems and habitats. Undergrowth, extensive mountain meadows, open moor, and remnants of dense evergreen mountain forests cover the steep slopes.
Trees in the mountainous region include Albizzia Gummifera, Podocarpus latifolia, Acacia Lahai, Hagenia Abyssinica, and Olea Chrysophylla. There is an area with Arundinaria Alpina bamboo on Mount Oldeani and Juniperus Procera cedar on the west of Mount Makarut . Forests with Croton species dominate the lower slopes. The base of the crater is composed of plains where Acacia Xanthophloea , Rauvolfia Caffra , Cassipourea Malosana , Albizzia Gummifera and Acacia Lahai grow . The western undulating plains are covered with grass with trees such as acacia tortilis and Commiphora Africana, remaining almost desert during periods of acute drought. In the drier areas, next to Lake Eyasi , Acacia mellifera and Dalbergia melanoxylon dominate.
Fauna
Zebras in the Ngorongoro
The Ngorongoro has the highest density of predators in Africa
The crater feeds a population of some 25,000 large, mostly ungulates, with the highest density of predators in Africa.. Black rhinoceros, hippopotamus, wildebeest, zebra, Thomson’s gazelle, lion, elephant, leopard, redunca, bubal and buffalo can be seen. During the summer a large number of migratory species, originating from the Serengeti, cross the plains of the Reserve, including wildebeest, zebras and gazelles. Some species, such as Thomson’s gazelle, have been declining in number lately, while others, such as the buffalo, have greatly increased. There are species more difficult to see, such as the cob that is mainly found near the Lerai forest; the serval can be seen, in addition to the crater, on the western plains. Other common mammals in the Reserve are the golden jackal, the spotted hyena and the jackal. The licaon has practically disappeared from the crater, but some rare specimens are seen in other areas of the Reserve. The cheetah, which is very common in the Reserve, it is rare in the crater itself. The golden cat has recently been seen in the Ngorongoro Forest. The avifauna is also very numerous, having registered about 500 different species ofbirds . These include the ostrich, white pelican, and huge numbers of flamingos in Lake Makat in the Ngorongoro Crater. Gorigor Lagoon, Eyasi Lake, Ndutu Lake, and Empakaai Crater Lake are visited by thousands of herons , ibis, teals, Malvasia duck , railroad rails, avocets, white- headed smokers, and gray-headed gulls. There are also several different species of stork, bearded vulture, Egyptian vulture, gentoo’s harrier, lesser hawk, taita hawk, bustards, fischeri lovebird, woodpecker, raven, gorget pipit, cysticola, Parus fringillinus and Euplectes jacksoni. Nectarinia reichenowi and N. mediocris can be seen in the forests of the mountainous region. The Papilio Sjoestedti butterfly, known as theKilimanjaro flies in the mountain forests.
Paleontology
The region of the Reserve maintains several paleontological and archaeological sites where remains from different eras have been studied when numerous fossil remains have been found. The four main sites are Olduvai Gorge , Laetoli , Lake Ndutu , near the Serengeti , and Nasera , in the Gol Mountains.
The variety and richness of the fossil remains found, including those of ancient hominids, has made the area one of the most important places in the world for research on the evolution of the human species. In Olduvai Gorge were found early hominids valuable residues including, in 1959 , the Sinanthropus (Zinthanthropus), 1,750,000 years old, as well as habilis and bones of many extinct animals. In 1975 , near Laetoli, the group of scientists led by Mary Leakey, found the fossil tracks of what is considered the oldest hominid found, with 3,600,000 years old.
Human population
Maasai population
Maasai shepherds
Around 1840, Maasai herders began to use the Ngorongoro lands as pastures. In 1959 the multipurpose protection of the Reserve was approved, which allowed them to continue with their livestock activities within the Park. However, the Reserve authorities considered that the thousands of head of cattle that grazed in it were endangering the maintenance of the protected fauna. In 2006It was estimated that there could be about 300,000 cows grazing in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, whereupon the Government offered alternatives to the Maasai so that they could leave the Reserve and relocate elsewhere. This situation has led to the impoverishment of some while others have begun to adapt to a sedentary life and a greater share in the prosperity brought by tourism.
Main tourist attractions
The spectacular wild [fauna], geology and archeology of the Ngorongoro-Serengeti Biosphere Reserve are the main tourist attractions in Tanzania . Of the 35,000 visitors that the Ngorongoro Crater had in 1983, it increased to 360,000 in 2006 and it is expected that in the following years they will reach millions.
There are four lodges on the edge of the crater and one on Lake Ndutu on the edge of Serengeti . It has a good infrastructure of guides and vehicles to organize visits. At the entrance to Lodoare there is an interpretive center and another in Olduvai , this one focused on the interpretation of the Gorge and its excavations.
In Arusha , in 2002 , an Information Center was opened to promote Tanzanian tourism. To avoid the damage that this overcrowding could cause on the ecological conditions of the Reserve, measures have been taken aimed at diversifying activities, which seem to be giving good results.
