Location: Arusha Map
Area: 2,850 km²
Tarangire National Park is a national park in northern Tanzania.
Established in 1970, it covers an area of 2600 square
kilometers and is located southwest of Arusha near Lake Manyara
at an altitude of 1000 to 1500 m above sea level. Annual
precipitation is 600 mm.
landscape and vegetation
The
Tarangire River flows through the park, which constantly carries
water, so that many animals migrate from drier regions during
the annual dry season from July to October, resulting in the
highest density of large animals in Tanzania after the
Ngorongoro Crater. The landscape consists of grasslands,
especially on both sides of the river, open tree savannah, dense
scrub and woodland, and hills and crags with sparse vegetation.
Baobab trees are found with above-average frequency.
wildlife
The tsetse fly, which transmits sleeping sickness,
occurs throughout Tarangire National Park. The wild animals are
largely immune to it.
Among other things, Tarangire
National Park is home to Plains Zebra, Blue Wildebeest, Impala,
Waterbuck, Lesser Kudu, African Buffalo, Giraffe, Hippo,
Warthog, Lion, Cheetah, Leopard, Hyena, African Wild Dog, Banded
Mongoose, Anubis Baboon, Southern Green Monkey and 300 species
of birds. The once plentiful black rhino is now extinct. The
number of elephants was 3000 specimens from 1977 to 1987, in
Tarangire National Park including the Simanjiro area over 5000
were counted in May 1988 and over 6000 in the dry season.
Another census gave 6110 individuals in 1987.
Visit and
adjacent protected areas
To visit the park you need a paid
visit permit, which you can get at the entrances. The roads in
the park are unpaved and only accessible by off-road vehicles.
The number of visitors to the park varies greatly, it is also
heavily visited by Tanzanians.
The Simanjiro-Mkungunero
Conservation and Livestock Area borders the south and south-east
of Tarangire National Park and has a larger area than the park
itself, in which the keeping of domestic animals, i.e. Maasai
herds, is permitted. The Lolkisasle Game Conservation Area
adjoins the park to the north-east, while the Tarangire National
Park buffer zone extends to the north-west to protect the
animals migrating there and as part of a corridor to Lake
Manyara National Park. The ecosystem covers a total of 20,000
km².