The Tarangire River is a perennial river located in central

Manyara Region Manyara Region (''Mkoa wa Manyara'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the town of Babati. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population of 1,425,131, which was lower than th ...

in the eastern branch of the

East African Rift Valley 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 ...

, within northern

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

Course

The headwaters of the Tarangire River are in the highlands and escarpments of

Babati District Babati Rural District is a district of Manyara Region of Tanzania, East Africa. The administrative capital of the district is Babati town, south of Arusha. The district covers an area of , a large proportion (640 km2) of which is covered b ...

of the

and

Kondoa District Kondoa District is one of the seven districts of the Dodoma Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by Manyara Region, and to the south by Chemba District. Its district capital is the town of Kondoa. According to the 2012 Tanzania Nation ...

of the

Dodoma Region Dodoma Region (''Mkoa wa Dodoma'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the city of Dodoma. The region is located in central Tanzania, it is bordered by Singida Region to the west; Manyara Region ...

, primarily the Irangi Hills and Irangi

Escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

in Kondoa District. The river rises in the Wasi Highlands, falls down the eastern Kondoa Escarpment. It flows east to Chubi where it then turns north to flow through

Tarangire National Park Tarangire National Park is a national park in Tanzania's Manyara Region. The name of the park originates from the Tarangire River that crosses the park. The Tarangire River is the primary source of fresh water for wild animals in the Tarangire ...

. It then turns west and then south, before terminating at its river mouth on Lake Burunge.

Ecology

Much of the Tarangire River headwaters in the Irangi Hills headwaters area is forested with

Miombo woodland The Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located primarily in Central Africa. It includes four woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) characterized b ...

habitat trees and lower plants, that are designated for protection within the Salanka, Bereko, and Isabe Forest Reserves.Charnley, S. and Overton, R., 2006. United States Forest Service–African Wildlife Foundation Collaboration Technical Assistance for Forest Management Planning in the Tarangire River Headwaters, Kondoa District
, Tanzania.] Deforestation for agriculture and degradation of forests in the Irangi Hills and along the Irangi Escarpment is contributing to reductions in the Tarangire River's watershed function and aquifer recharge. The discharge in the Tarangire River is highly seasonal and varies annually. In the wet season, rainfall in the Irangi Hills and throughout the catchment causes a high rate of flow with rapid rises and falls in water level. Rainfall occurs almost exclusively in November–January and March–May. It is highly variable, with a mean total annual rainfall of (coefficient of variation = 36.4%, range 313–1,322). River flow in the dry season is slow (about 0.005 cubic meters per second) and steadily decreasing as water is released from sediments, until long stretches of the riverbed are dry. The Tarangire River is the primary source of fresh water for migratory ungulates and other wildlife of the Tarangire Ecosystem during the annual dry season.

References

{{Rivers of Tanzania Rivers of Tanzania Kondoa District Geography of Dodoma Region Geography of Manyara Region Babati District

Course

Ecology

See also

References