Serengeti National Park 3

The Serengeti National Park is located in the eastern region of Africa between the Rift Valley and Lake Victoria, covering an area of 30,000 km2, is the scene of one of the most spectacular migrations on earth.  

Every year, hundreds of thousands of gnus follow the rains in search of pasture, in a cyclical migration which marks the lives of both plants and animals in the regions they cross.

The government of Tanzania, aware of the importance of this migration, decided to give official protection to 17,000 km2 of this region.  And so the Serengeti National Park was born

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There are six different species of vulture in the Serengeti.  The bearded vulture and the white-headed vulture are not only scavengers but also predators, and are capable of eating muscle and hard tissue, thanks to their powerful beaks.  They then leave way for the white-back vulture and the roppel  who, with their long, featherless necks, can reach right down into the entrails.  Finally, the hooded vulture and the Egyptian vulture will clear up anything left on the body or on the ground.

From a great distance, the vultures can be seen landing, and this helps scavengers on land find the dead bodies.

Thanks to its tremendous speed, the cheetah is the most successful feline hunter in the Serengeti.  However, with the advantage of speed comes the lack of strength to fight off lions and hyenas and, whenever they can, they will snatch his food from him.

This herbivore, the Thompson's gazelle, makes up 90% of the cheetah’s diet, and he will join them on their annual migration.  Wherever they go, he follows in pursuit.

The gazelles follow the herds of gnus as they cross the savannah. The gnu represents less than 5% of the cheetah's diet, but he is nonetheless very much affected by their migrations.

Life in the Serengeti is influenced by the migrations of the gnus, but is ultimately determined by the rains.

In the northern region of the Serengeti, the landscape changes.  The vast, open plains give way to trees, and instead of the short, resistant grasses, we find other types, growing up to two metres high.

The animals, too, are different here.

A leopard.  This cat prefers trees to empty spaces.  The trees can be used as watchtowers, and provide shelter and a safe place, out of reach of the lions and hyenas, where he can hide the animals he has hunted down.  His rate of success in hunting is much lower than that of the cheetah, and he simply can't afford to have his food stolen.  

On the western edge of the park, the Grumeti river has its own particular ecosystem.  This is the land of the hippopotamus.  They are nocturnal animals, dozing during the day, and making the most of the cool of night to eat the 60kg of grass they need every day.  As the temperature rises, they move and find rest and relief in the water.

It may not look like it, but the hippopotamus' skin is very sensitive to the sun.  When they are not submerged in the water, they have to cover themselves in mud, to protect themselves from the harmful rays.

Of all the predators in the Serengeti, only one is feared by the hyenas.  This is the largest, and most powerful of all - the lion.

Stealing food is normal in the Serengeti.  The lions steal from the hyenas, the hyenas from the cheetahs, and the leopards hide their food in the trees to prevent it from being taken.