Ngorongoro Conservation Area (, ) is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

and a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

located in

Ngorongoro District Ngorongoro District (''Wilaya ya Ngorongoro'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of seven Districts of Tanzania, districts in western Arusha Region of Tanzania. The district is bordered to the north by Kenya, to the east by Monduli District, t ...

, west of Arusha City in

Arusha Region Arusha Region () is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions and is located in the northeast of the country. The region's capital and largest city is the city of Arusha. The region is bordered by Kajiado County and Narok C ...

, within the Crater Highlands geological area of northeastern

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. The area is named after

Ngorongoro Crater Ngorongoro Conservation Area (, ) is a protected area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Ngorongoro District, west of Arusha City in Arusha Region, within the Crater Highlands geological area of northeastern Tanzania. The area is name ...

, a large volcanic

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...

within the area. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), which administers the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), is an arm of the Tanzanian government and its boundaries follow the boundary of the

in the Arusha Region. The western portion of the park abuts the

Serengeti National Park The Serengeti National Park is a large national park in northern Tanzania that stretches over . It is located in eastern Mara Region and northeastern Simiyu Region and contains over of virgin savanna. The park was established in 1940. The Se ...

(SNP). The area comprising the NCA, SNP, and Kenya's

Maasai Mara Maasai Mara, sometimes also spelt Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve in Narok County, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is named in honour of the Maasai people, th ...

game reserve is home to Great Migration, a massive annual migration of millions of wildebeest, zebras, gazelles, and other animals. The NCA 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 evo ...

, one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world. Ngorongoro Conservation Area is one of the most popular attractions in Tanzania with 752,232 tourists visiting it in 2023. The 2009 Ngorongoro Wildlife Conservation Act placed new restrictions on human settlement and subsistence farming in the Crater, displacing Maasai

pastoralists Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The anima ...

, most of whom had been relocated to Ngorongoro from their ancestral lands to the north when the British colonial government established

in 1959.'Tourism is a curse to us'
'' Guardian'', 6 September 2009

History

The name of the crater has an

onomatopoeic Onomatopoeia (or rarely echoism) is a type of word, or the process of creating a word, that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Common onomatopoeias in English include animal noises such as ''oink'', '' ...

origin; it was named by the Maasai pastoralists after the sound produced by the

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell (instrument), bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. ...

(''ngoro ngoro''). Based on fossil evidence OH 7 found at the

, 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 ...

species have occupied the area for at least 1.75 million years. Hunter-gatherers were replaced by

a few thousand years ago. The

Iraqw people The Iraqw people () are a Cushitic languages, Cushitic ethnic group inhabiting the northern Tanzanian regions. They dwell in southwestern Arusha Region, Arusha and Manyara Region, Manyara regions of Tanzania, near the East African Rift, Rift Va ...

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 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 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, after leasing the land from the administration of

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; ) was a German colonial empire, 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 Portugu ...

. The brothers regularly organized shooting parties to entertain their German friends. They also attempted to drive the

wildebeest Wildebeest ( , ,), also called gnu ( or ), are antelopes of the genus ''Connochaetes'' and native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-toed ...

herds out of the crater. The first game reserves were established by Germans and allowed hunting. Under British rule after

, various game preservation ordinances which restricted hunting were enacted in various areas in

(then Tanganyika) starting in 1921. By 1930, Ngorongoro Crater was included. Also during this time, the Land Ordinance of 1923 created legal basis to place the land rights of indigenous people at the discretion of the Governor, though indigenous people retained those rights through the 1950's. Tensions between the drive for preservation and the rights of indigenous people rose during this time. The National Park Ordinance of 1948 (implemented in 1951), created the

(SNP). However, to secure land rights for the pastoralist

Maasai people The Maasai (;) are a Nilotic peoples, Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, near the African Great Lakes region.

living in the area, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Ordinance (1959) separated the NCA from the SNP. Maasai people living in Serengeti National Park were systematically relocated to Ngorongoro Conservation Area, increasing the population of Maasai people living there. It also increased the disputes between the Tanzania government and the Maasai people. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) was established at the same time and manages the NCA and works to preserve it as a multi-use protected area. The NCAA's mission is to support the traditions of pastoral Maasai people, preserve the natural and cultural values of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and to promote and regulate tourism The Ngorongoro Conservation Area became a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 1979, originally inscribed for its natural significance of wildlife and the Ngorongoro Crater. The NCA then received Mixed Heritage Status in 2010 due to the cultural significance of the anthropological importance of the Olduvai Gorge.This cultural 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

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN) is seeking solutions to ease conflict and improve collaborative efforts toward conservation with the locals. Citing concerns about the preservation of the natural value of the NCA, starting in 2021, the Tanzanian government designed and then started implementing a plan to relocate all of the

Maasai people The Maasai (;) are a Nilotic peoples, Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, near the African Great Lakes region.

in Ngorongoro Conservation Area to Msomera, a village 600 kilometers away. This is considered a voluntary relocation, however,

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

reports that the government has acted in a coercive way without accordance to the principle of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC).

Geography

The Serengeti ecosystem includes multiple preserved areas in Tanzania. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is in the southeast portion (shown in dark grey). The NCA adjoins the Serengeti National Park to the northwest and is contiguous with the SNP's southern Serengeti plains. These plains also extend to the north of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area into the unprotected Loliondo division and are kept open to wildlife through

transhumance Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or Nomad, nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and low ...

pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The anim ...

practiced by the Maasai. The south and east of the NCA are volcanic highlands, including the famous Ngorongoro Crater and the lesser-known Empakaai Crater. The southern and eastern boundaries of the Serengeti ecosystem 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. It was formerly considered to be part of a l ...

wall, which also prevents animal migration in these directions. In the topographical map, Lake Nyanza is the same as

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropics, tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface are ...

in the Serengeti Ecosystem map.

Geology

The

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58volcanic group 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 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. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

. 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 Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron ( mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% ...

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 (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

feed into the Goringop swamp. Lake Magadi is a shallow (1.7 m) alkaline lake. 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 NCA consists of the Serengeti Plains, the Salei Plains, the Oldupai Gorge, and the Gol Mountains

inselberg An inselberg or monadnock ( ) is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa, a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, an ...

s. These inselbergs are part of the

Mozambique Belt The Mozambique Belt is a band in the Earth's crust that extends from East Antarctica through East Africa up to the Arabian-Nubian Shield. It formed as a suture between plates during the Pan-African orogeny, when Gondwana was formed. The Mozambi ...

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...

and

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into fragile elastic plates. This characteristic is described as ''perfect basal cleavage''. Mica is co ...

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

about (800–500 Ma) in age.

Ngorongoro Crater

The main feature of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic

. The crater, which formed when a large volcano erupted 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 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 liter). I ...

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

hippopotamus The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahar ...

es, elephants, lions, 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, especially during times of drought. Maasai were previously permitted to graze their cattle within the crater, but as of 2015 were restricted from doing so.

Olduvai Gorge

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area also protects Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge, 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 2.4 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 (biology), family of primates that includes eight Neontology#Extant taxa versus extinct taxa, extant species in four Genus, genera: ''Orangutan ...

, 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 at Olduvai Gorge, Ta ...

''. The Olduvai Gorge is a steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley, which stretches along eastern Africa. Olduvai is in the eastern

Serengeti The Serengeti ( ) ecosystem is a geographical region in Africa, spanning the Mara and Arusha Regions of Tanzania. The protected area within the region includes approximately of land, including the Serengeti National Park and several game r ...

Plains in northeastern

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 word for the wild sisal plant, ''

Sansevieria ehrenbergii ''Dracaena hanningtonii'', synonym ''Sansevieria ehrenbergii'', (blue sansevieria, sword sansevieria, oldupai, or East African wild sisal) is a flowering plant which grows in northeastern and eastern tropical Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, ...

''. It is one of the most important

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

sites in the world and research there has been instrumental in furthering understanding of early

human evolution ''Homo sapiens'' is a distinct species of the hominid family of primates, which also includes all the great apes. Over their evolutionary history, humans gradually developed traits such as Human skeletal changes due to bipedalism, bipedalism, de ...

. 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 Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...

. Around 500,000 years ago

seismic Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...

activity diverted a nearby stream which began to cut down into the sediments, revealing seven main layers in the walls of the gorge.

Wildlife

Wildebeest and Zebra near Ngorongoro Crater lake - Flickr - gailhampshire

Approximately 25,000 large animals, mostly

ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Euungulata ("true ungulates"), which primarily consists of large mammals with Hoof, hooves. Once part of the clade "Ungulata" along with the clade Paenungulata, "Ungulata" has since been determined ...

s, live in the crater. Large mammals in the crater include the

black rhinoceros The black rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis''), also called the black rhino or the hooked-lip rhinoceros, is a species of rhinoceros native to East Africa, East and Southern Africa, including Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Moza ...

(''Diceros bicornis michaeli''), the local population of which declined from about 108 in 1964–66 to 13 in 1993. Following the monitoring and protection initiatives of the Frankfurt Zoological Society, International Rhino Foundation and

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

, the current total is 55 animals as of 2018. Large mammals in the crater also include African buffalo or Cape buffalo (''Syncerus caffer''), and the

(''Hippopotamus amphibius''). There also are many other ungulates: the

blue wildebeest The blue wildebeest (''Connochaetes taurinus''), also called the common wildebeest, white-bearded gnu or brindled gnu, is a large antelope and one of the two species of wildebeest. It is placed in the genus ''Connochaetes'' and Family (biology), ...

(''Connochaetes taurinus'') (7,000 estimated in 1994), Grant's zebra (''Equus quagga boehmi'') (4,000), the eland (''Taurotragus oryx''), and

Grant's Grant's is a blended whisky, blended Scotch whisky, produced by the company William Grant & Sons in Scotland. It is the world's third highest selling Scotch whisky. History In 1886, William Grant (businessman), William Grant started working ...

(''Nanger granti'') and

Thomson's gazelle Thomson's gazelle (''Eudorcas thomsonii'') is one of the best known species of gazelles. It is named after explorer Joseph Thomson (explorer), Joseph Thomson and is sometimes referred to as a "tommie". It is considered by some to be a subspecies o ...

s (''Eudorcas thomsonii'') (3,000).

Waterbuck The waterbuck (''Kobus ellipsiprymnus'') is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus ''Kobus (antelope), Kobus'' of the family Bovidae. It was first Scientific description, described by Irish naturalist Will ...

s (''Kobus ellipsiprymnus'') occur mainly near Lerai Forest. Absent are Giraffe, impala (''Aepyceros melampus''),

topi ''Damaliscus lunatus jimela'' is a subspecies of Damaliscus lunatus, 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 ...

(''Damaliscus lunatus''), oribi (''Ourebia oribi''), and

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 more loosely to include ...

(''Crocodylus niloticus'').

Cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large Felidae, cat and the Fastest animals, fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, wit ...

(''Acinonyx jubatus raineyi''), East African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus lupinus''), and

African leopard The African leopard (''Panthera pardus pardus'') is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been Habitat fragmentation, fragm ...

(''Panthera pardus pardus'') are rarely seen. Spotted hyenas (''Crocuta crocuta'') have been the subject of a long-term research study in the NCA 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 The serval (''Leptailurus serval'') is a wild small cat native to Africa. It is widespread in sub-Saharan countries, where it inhabits grasslands, wetlands, moorlands and bamboo thickets. Across its range, it occurs in protected areas, and ...

(''Leptailurus serval'') occurs widely in the crater.

Lake Magadi Lake Magadi is the southernmost lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, lying in a catchment of faulted volcanic rocks, north of Tanzania's Lake Natron. During the dry season, it is 80% covered by soda and is known for its wading birds, including f ...

, a large lake in the southwest of the crater, is often inhabited by thousands of mainly

lesser flamingo The lesser flamingo (''Phoeniconaias minor'') is a species of flamingo occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and western India. Birds are occasionally reported from further north, but these are generally considered vagrants. Characteristics The lesse ...

es. The crater has one

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

species of mammal: Mduma's shrew (''Crocidura mdumai''), which is restricted to montane forests on the edge of the crater. This

shrew Shrews ( family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to dif ...

is considered

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

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 Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

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'') 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 Canine distemper (CDV) (sometimes termed "footpad disease") is a viral disease that affects a wide variety of mammal families, including domestic and wild species of dogs, coyotes, foxes, pandas, wolves, ferrets, skunks, raccoons, and felin ...

. 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, and Masai people. The Ndutu Lake area to the west of the conservation area has particularly strong cheetah and lion populations. Common in the area are

hartebeest The hartebeest (; ''Alcelaphus buselaphus''), also known as kongoni or kaama, is an Fauna of Africa, African antelope. It is the Monotypic taxon, only member of the genus ''Alcelaphus''. Eight subspecies have been described, including two som ...

(''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

jackal Jackals are Canidae, canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe Canina (subtribe), canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-b ...

s. The population of

African wild dog The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called painted dog and Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' Lycaon'', which is disti ...

may have declined recently.

s occur widely on the plains to the west of the Ngorongoro Crater. The annual

migration passes through the NCA, with 1.7 million

, 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.

Threats to the conservation area

The 2020 Conservation Outlook Assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Heritage Outlook identifies these concerns for the continued successful protection of Ngorongoro Conservation Area: * Population increase of the pastoralist

Maasai people The Maasai (;) are a Nilotic peoples, Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, near the African Great Lakes region.

* Sustainable income from and management of tourism and visitation The NCA is unique because it is the only conservation area in Tanzania that protects wildlife while allowing human habitation. Land use by the pastoralist

Maasai people The Maasai (;) are a Nilotic peoples, Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, near the African Great Lakes region.

who live in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is controlled to prevent negative effects on the wildlife population. For example, cultivation is prohibited at all but subsistence levels. In 1966, the population of Maasai living in NCA was approximately 8,700. By 2017, the population had grown to 93,136 and it is projected to rise to 161,000 by 2027. This population increase is the root cause of other concerns including: increased livestock population and potential for overgrazing beyond the

carrying capacity The carrying capacity of an ecosystem is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available. The carrying capacity is defined as the ...

of the environment, unsustainable use of lumber from the land to build dwellings and other buildings, and the potential for reduction of scenic views due to this construction. A potential solution to this issue involves the voluntary resettlement of Maasai to the village of Msomera 600 kilometers (370 miles) away. Efforts for this move started in 2021. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority provides funds to those who choose to move, and the Maasai who move are also provided land for their homes, crops, and livestock. This resettlement has created conflict between those already living in Msomera and newcomers and also created concerns that the rights of all parties have not been retained. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, which manages and preserves the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, relies highly on funding from tourism to maintain the NCA and disburse revenue-sharing to resident communities. Any fluctuation in tourism could negatively affect this income. New tourism records were reported in 2024 with a total of 752,232 visitors for the 2022/23 fiscal year. Tourist visits are concentrated on the Ngorongoro Crater which takes up only a small part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. To reduce traffic to the crater, higher fees have been imposed per visiting vehicle, the number of vehicles allowed in the crater at one time is limited to 50, and vehicles are encouraged to carry more passengers. Tourist facilities are required to comply with various limitations to minimize impact.

References

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
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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

History

Geography

Geology

Ngorongoro Crater

Olduvai Gorge

Wildlife

Lions

Outside Ngorongoro Crater

Threats to the conservation area

See also

References

Further reading

External links