Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti National Park, Tanzania’s oldest and most renowned national park, is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. It is celebrated as one of Africa’s top destinations for viewing wildlife, offering remarkable sightings of large mammals, big cats, and an incredible array of herbivorous and carnivorous animals. The Serengeti is also the ancestral home of the Maasai people, who have lived there for thousands of years, herding cattle.

Formation of the Serengeti

The Serengeti ecosystem, which extends into Kenya’s Maasai Mara, lies primarily in Tanzania, covering 75% of this remarkable landscape. This vast 5,700-square-mile (14,750-square-kilometer) sea of green grasses owes its origins to volcanic eruptions from the Ngorongoro region around three million years ago. These eruptions spread volcanic ash across what is now the Serengeti plains, enriching the soil with phosphorus and creating fertile ground for the short, nutrient-rich grasses that sustain millions of animals. The Serengeti supports an extraordinary abundance of wildlife.