Ngorongoro 2012 05 30 2353 (7500935618).jpg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (, ) is a
protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Ngorongoro District, west of
Arusha City Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census). Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern bran ...
in Arusha Region, within the
Crater Highlands The Crater Highlands (Ngorongoro Highlands) are a geological region along the East African Rift in the Arusha Region and parts of northern Manyara Region in north Tanzania. Geology The highlands are located in a spreading zone at the intersec ...
geological area of northern Tanzania. The area is named after Ngorongoro Crater, a large volcanic
caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...
within the area. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority administers the conservation area, an arm of the Tanzanian government, and its boundaries follow the boundary of the Ngorongoro District in Arusha Region. The western portion of the park abuts the Serengeti National Park (also a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and the area comprising the two parks and Kenya's
Maasai Mara Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve in Narok, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is named in honor of the Maasai people, the ancestr ...
game reserve is home to Great Migration, a massive annual migration of millions of wildebeest, zebras, gazelles, and other animals. The conservation area also contains
Olduvai Gorge The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge in Tanzania is one of the most important paleoanthropology, paleoanthropological localities in the world; the many sites exposed by the gorge have proven invaluable in furthering understanding of early human ev ...
, one of the most important
paleoanthropological Paleoanthropology or paleo-anthropology is a branch of paleontology and anthropology which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as hominization, through the reconstruction of evolutionary kinship ...
sites in the world. The 2009 Ngorongoro Wildlife Conservation Act placed new restrictions on human settlement and subsistence farming in the Crater, displacing
Maasai Maasai may refer to: * Maasai people *Maasai language * Maasai mythology * MAASAI (band) See also * Masai (disambiguation) * Massai Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...
pastoralists, most of whom had been relocated to Ngorongoro from their ancestral lands to the north when the British colonial government established Serengeti National Park in 1959.'Tourism is a curse to us'
''
Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...
'', 6 September 2009


History and geography

The name of the crater has an
onomatopoeic Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...
origin; it was named by the Maasai pastoralists after the sound produced by the cowbell (''ngoro ngoro''). Based on fossil evidence found at the
Olduvai Gorge The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge in Tanzania is one of the most important paleoanthropology, paleoanthropological localities in the world; the many sites exposed by the gorge have proven invaluable in furthering understanding of early human ev ...
, various
hominid The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the east ...
species have occupied the area for 3 million years. Hunter-gatherers were replaced by
pastoralist Pastoralist may refer to: * Pastoralism, raising livestock on natural pastures * Pastoral farming, settled farmers who grow crops to feed their livestock * People who keep or raise sheep, sheep farming Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the r ...
s a few thousand years ago. The
Mbulu Mbulu is a town in Tanzania and the capital of the Mbulu District. The town is inhabited by the Iraqw people. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Mbulu is also in Mbulu. Mbulu is located in the Mbulu Highlands. The town, also known as Imboru among the ...
came to the area about 2,000 years ago and were joined by the Datooga around the year 1700. Both groups were driven from the area by the
Maasai Maasai may refer to: * Maasai people *Maasai language * Maasai mythology * MAASAI (band) See also * Masai (disambiguation) * Massai Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...
in the 1800s.''Northern Tanzania: The Bradt Safari Guide with Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar'', authored by Phillip Briggs, 2006, pages 197, 198 No Europeans are known to have set foot in the Ngorongoro Crater until 1892 when it was visited by Oscar Baumann. Two German brothers (Adolph and Friedrich Siedentopf) farmed in the crater until the outbreak of World War I, after leasing the land from the administration of
German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...
. The brothers regularly organized shooting parties to entertain their German friends. They also attempted to drive the wildebeest herds out of the crater.''Africa's Great Rift Valley'', authored by Nigel Pavitt, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 2001, pages 135-139
In 1921, the first game preservation ordinance was passed, which restricted hunting to permit holders throughout Tanzania. In 1928, hunting was prohibited on all land within the crater rim, except the former Siedentopf farms. The National Park Ordinance of 1948 (implemented in 1951) created the Serengeti National Park (SNP). This, however, caused problems with the Maasai and other tribes, resulting in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Ordinance (1959) that separated the conservation area from the national park. Maasai pastoralists living in Serengeti National Park were systematically relocated to Ngorongoro, increasing the population of Maasai and livestock living in the Crater. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority was established by the Game Park Laws (miscellaneous amendments) Act, 1976, and owns the majority of Ngorongoro Conservation Area land, including the Crater. The area became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, originally inscribed for its natural significance. It then received Mixed Heritage Status in 2010. Its cultural recognition stemming from “an exceptionally long sequence of crucial evidence related to human evolution and human-environment dynamics…including physical evidence of the most important benchmarks in human evolutionary development”. This recognition, however, has not included the Maasai community, hence the longstanding conflict surrounding the use and management of the park. The Wildlife Conservation Act of 2009 further restricted human use of Ngorongoro Crater and created a legal framework to politically disenfranchise and forcibly displace traditional pastoralists. The restriction on land use generates tension between the local Maasai communities and conservation authorities. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is seeking solutions to ease conflict and improve collaborative efforts toward conservation with the locals. The conservation area land is multi-use and unique because it is the only conservation area in Tanzania that protects wildlife while allowing human habitation. Land use is controlled to prevent negative effects on the wildlife population. For example, cultivation is prohibited at all but subsistence levels. The area is part of the Serengeti ecosystem and, to the northwest, adjoins the SNP and is contiguous with the southern Serengeti plains. These plains also extend to the north into the unprotected Loliondo division and are kept open to wildlife through transhumance pastoralism practiced by the Maasai. The south and west of the area are volcanic highlands, including the famous Ngorongoro Crater and the lesser-known Empakaai Crater. The southern and eastern boundaries are approximately defined by the rim of the
East African Rift The East African Rift (EAR) or East African Rift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago. In the past it was considered to be part of a ...
wall, which also prevents animal migration in these directions.


Geology

The Pliocene Ngorongoro
volcanic group A volcanic group is a stratigraphic group consisting of volcanic strata. They can be in the form of volcanic fields, volcanic complexes and cone A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequ ...
consists of eight extinct shield volcanoes within the Eyasi
half-graben A half-graben is a geological structure bounded by a fault along one side of its boundaries, unlike a full graben where a depressed block of land is bordered by parallel faults. Rift and fault structure A rift is a region where the lithosphere ...
, the eastern boundary marked by the Gregory Rift Western Escarpment. The Lake Eyasi escarpment bounds the half-graben on the southwest. Within the complex, five volcanoes are dome-shaped cones, while three have calderas. Ngorongoro Volcano (2.5–1.9 Ma) is primarily basaltic trachyandesite. The caldera is fed by the Munge and Oljoro Nyuki Rivers, while the Ngoitokitok
hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...
feed into the Goringop swamp. Lake Magadi is a shallow (1.7 m)
alkaline lake A soda lake or alkaline lake is a lake on the strongly alkaline side of neutrality, typically with a pH, pH value between 9 and 12. They are characterized by high concentrations of carbonate salts, typically sodium carbonate (and related salt com ...
. Other volcanoes within the complex include Olmoti (2.01–1.79 Ma), Empakaai, Loolmalasin, Sadiman (3.7 Ma), Lemagrut, and Oldeani. The northwest portion of the conservation area consists of the Serengeti Plains, the Salei Plains, the Oldupai Gorge, and the Gol Mountains inselbergs. These inselbergs are part of the Mozambique Belt quartzite and
mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...
schist about (800–500 Ma) in age.


Ngorongoro Crater

The main feature of the Ngorongoro Conservation Authority is the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic
caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...
. The crater, which formed when a large volcano exploded and collapsed on itself two to three million years ago, is deep and its floor covers . Estimates of the height of the original volcano range from high. The crater floor is above sea level. The crater was voted by Seven Natural Wonders as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa in Arusha, Tanzania, in February 2013. The Ngorongoro volcano was active from about 2.45 to 2 million years ago. Volcanic eruptions like that of Ngorongoro, which resulted in the formation of Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, were very common. Similar collapses occurred in the case of Olmoti and Empakaai, but they were much smaller in magnitude and impact. Out of the two recent volcanoes to the northeast of the Empakaai caldera, Kerimasi and Ol Doinyo Lengai, Doinyo Lengai is still active and had major eruptions in 2007 and 2008. Smaller ash eruptions and lava flows continue to slowly fill the current crater. Its name in
Maasai Maasai may refer to: * Maasai people *Maasai language * Maasai mythology * MAASAI (band) See also * Masai (disambiguation) * Massai Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...
means 'Mountain of God'. The Munge Stream drains Olmoti Crater to the north and is the main water source draining into the seasonal
salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...
in the center of the crater. This lake is known by two names: ''Makat'' as the Maasai called it, meaning salt; and ''Magadi''. The Lerai Stream drains the humid forests to the south of the Crater and feeds the Lerai Forest on the crater floor – when there is enough rain, the Lerai drains into Lake Magadi as well. Extraction of water by lodges and Ngorongoro Conservation Area headquarters reduces the amount of water entering Lerai by around 25%. The other major water source in the crater is the Ngoitokitok Spring, near the eastern crater wall. There is a picnic site here open to tourists and a huge swamp fed by the spring, and the area is inhabited by hippopotamuses, elephants,
lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
s, and many others. Many other small springs can be found around the crater's floor, and these are important water supplies for the animals and local
Maasai Maasai may refer to: * Maasai people *Maasai language * Maasai mythology * MAASAI (band) See also * Masai (disambiguation) * Massai Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...
, especially during times of drought. Masai were previously permitted to graze their cattle within the crater, but as of 2015 were restricted from doing so.


Oldupai or Olduvai Gorge

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area also protects Oldupai or Olduvai Gorges, situated in the plains area. It is considered to be the seat of humanity after the discovery of the earliest known specimens of the human genus, ''
Homo habilis ''Homo habilis'' ("handy man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Early Pleistocene of East and South Africa about 2.31 million years ago to 1.65 million years ago (mya). Upon species description in 1964, ''H. habilis'' was highly ...
'' as well as early
hominidae The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the ea ...
, such as ''
Paranthropus boisei ''Paranthropus boisei'' is a species of australopithecine from the Early Pleistocene of East Africa about 2.5 to 1.15 million years ago. The holotype specimen, OH 5, was discovered by palaeoanthropologist Mary Leakey in 1959, and described by h ...
''. The Olduvai Gorge is a steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley, which stretches along eastern Africa. Olduvai is in the eastern Serengeti Plains in northern Tanzania and is about long. It lies in the rain shadow of the Ngorongoro highlands and is the driest part of the region. The gorge is named after 'Oldupaai', the
Maasai Maasai may refer to: * Maasai people *Maasai language * Maasai mythology * MAASAI (band) See also * Masai (disambiguation) * Massai Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...
word for the wild sisal plant, '' Sansevieria ehrenbergii''. It is one of the most important
prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
sites in the world and research there has been instrumental in furthering understanding of early human evolution. Excavation work there was pioneered by Mary and
Louis Leakey Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (7 August 1903 – 1 October 1972) was a Kenyan-British palaeoanthropologist and archaeologist whose work was important in demonstrating that humans evolved in Africa, particularly through discoveries made at Olduvai ...
in the 1950s and is continued today by their family. Some believe that millions of years ago, the site was that of a large lake, the shores of which were covered with successive deposits of volcanic ash. Around 500,000 years ago seismic activity diverted a nearby stream which began to cut down into the sediments, revealing seven main layers in the walls of the gorge.


Wildlife

Approximately 25,000 large animals, mostly ungulates, live in the crater. Large mammals in the crater include the black rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis michaeli''), the local population of which declined from about 108 in 1964-66 to between 11–14 in 1995, the African buffalo or Cape buffalo (''Syncerus caffer''), and the hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius''). There also are many other ungulates: the blue wildebeest (''Connochaetes taurinus'') (7,000 estimated in 1994), Grant's zebra (''Equus quagga boehmi'') (4,000), the
eland Eland may refer to: Animals *''Taurotragus'', a genus of antelope ** Common eland of East and Southern Africa ** Giant eland of Central and Western Africa Places * Eland, Wisconsin, United States * An old spelling of Elland, West Yorkshire * Ela ...
(''Taurotragus oryx''), and Grant's (''Nanger granti'') and Thomson's gazelles (''Eudorcas thomsonii'') (3,000). Waterbucks (''Kobus ellipsiprymnus'') occur mainly near Lerai Forest. Absent are
Giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...
,
impala The impala or rooibok (''Aepyceros melampus'') is a medium-sized antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The only extant member of the genus '' Aepyceros'' and tribe Aepycerotini, it was first described to European audiences by Germa ...
(''Aepyceros melampus''),
topi ''Damaliscus lunatus jimela'' is a subspecies of topi, and is usually just called a topi. It is a highly social and fast type of antelope found in the savannas, semi-deserts, and floodplains of sub-Saharan Africa. Names The word ''tope'' or '' ...
(''Damaliscus lunatus''), oribi (''Ourebia oribi''),
crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...
(''Crocodylus niloticus''). Cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus raineyi''),
East African wild dog The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' L ...
(''Lycaon pictus lupinus''), and African leopard (''Panthera pardus pardus'') are rarely seen. Spotted hyenas (''Crocuta crocuta'') have been the subject of
long-term research study
in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area since 1996. Although thought of as "a natural enclosure" for a very wide variety of wildlife, 20 percent or more of the wildebeest and half the zebra populations vacate the crater in the wet season, while Cape buffalo (''Syncerus caffer'') stay; their highest numbers are during the rainy season. Since 1986, the crater's wildebeest population has fallen from 14,677 to 7,250 (2003-2005). The numbers of eland and Thomson's gazelle also have declined while the buffalo population has increased greatly, probably due to the long prevention of fire which favors high-fibrous grasses over shorter, less fibrous types. Serval (''Leptailurus serval'') occurs widely in the crater. Lake Magadi, a large lake in the southwest of the crater, is often inhabited by thousands of mainly lesser flamingoes. The crater has one endemic species of mammal:
Mduma's shrew Mduma's shrew (''Crocidura mdumai'') is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is endemic to Tanzania. Etymology It is named after Tanzanian conservationist Simon Mduma, in honor of his efforts in studying the Serengeti ecosystem. ...
(''Crocidura mdumai''), which is restricted to montane forests on the edge of the crater. This shrew is considered endangered due to deforestation from smallholder farming.


Lions

The crater has one of the densest known population of
lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
s, numbering 62 in 2001. A side effect of the crater being a natural enclosure is that the lion population is significantly inbred. This is due to the very small amount of new bloodlines that enter the local gene pool, as very few migrating male lions enter the crater from the outside. Those who do enter the crater are often prevented from contributing to the gene pool by the crater's male lions, who expel any outside competitors. Long-term data imply that lions in the crater were struck by four deadly disease outbreaks between 1962 and 2002. Drought in 1961 and rains throughout the 1962 dry season caused a massive build-up of blood-sucking
stable flies ''Stomoxys calcitrans'' is commonly called the stable fly, barn fly, biting house fly, dog fly, or power mower fly. Unlike most members of the family Muscidae, ''Stomoxys calcitrans'' ('sharp mouth' + 'kicking') and others of its genus suck bl ...
(''Stomoxys calcitrans'') by May 1962. They drained blood and caused painful skin sores that became infected, causing lion numbers to crash from 75-100 to 12. The population recovered to around 100 by 1975 and remained stable until 1983 when a persistent decline began. Numbers have generally remained below 60 animals since 1993, reaching a low of 29 in 1998. In 2001, 34 percent of the lion population died between January and April from a combination of tick-borne disease and canine distemper. The lion population is also influenced to some extent by the takeover of prides by incoming males, which typically kill small cubs. The biggest influence, however, appears to be disease, particularly canine distemper.


Outside Ngorongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area has a healthy resident population of most species of wildlife. The Ndutu Lake area to the west of the conservation area has particularly strong cheetah and
lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
populations. Common in the area are hartebeest (''Alcelaphus buselaphus''),
spotted hyena 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. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUC ...
(''Crocuta crocuta''), and jackals. The population of African wild dog may have declined recently. Servals occur widely on the plains to the west of the Ngorongoro Crater. The annual ungulate migration passes through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, with 1.7 million wildebeest, 260,000 zebra, and 470,000 gazelles moving into the area in December and moving out in June. This movement changes seasonally with the rains, but the migration traverses almost the entire plains in search of food.


See also

*
List of reduplicated place names This is a list of places with reduplication in their names, often as a result of the grammatical rules of the languages from which the names are derived. Duplicated names from the indigenous languages of Australia, Chile and New Zealand are l ...
* List of Ngorongoro Crater plants


References


Further reading


Ngorongoro Conservation Area
at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre * *


External links


Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority

Ngorongoro crater facts

Explore Ngorongoro Conservation Area in the UNESCO collection on Google Arts and Culture

Tanzania Tourist Bureau
*
UNESCO World Heritage Site Datasheet
{{Authority control Biosphere reserves of Tanzania Geography of Arusha Region Volcanoes of Tanzania Calderas of Africa Tourist attractions in the Arusha Region World Heritage Sites in Danger World Heritage Sites in Tanzania Protected areas established in 1959 1959 establishments in Tanganyika East African montane forests Serengeti volcanic grasslands Southern Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets Important Bird Areas of Tanzania