Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
National conservation area in the Arusha region of northern Tanzania, southeast of Serengeti National Park. Occupying some 8,300 square km, it extends over part of the Eastern (Great) Rift Valley of eastern Africa and contains a variety of habitats and landscapes, including grassland plains, savanna woodlands, forests, mountains, volcanic craters, lakes, rivers, and swampland. Ngorongoro Crater, one of the world's largest unbroken calderas, is the most prominent feature of the park.
Ngorongoro Conservation Area was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979. It is host to more than 400 species of birds and some of the largest ungulate herds in the world, including wildebeests, plains zebras, and Thomson's and Grant's gazelles. Predatory animals include lions, spotted hyenas, leopards, and cheetahs. The endangered black rhinoceros and African hunting dog can also be found there. Although cultivation is not permitted within the area, some 25,000 to 40,000 Masai are allowed to graze their livestock there. Issues of concern during the latter part of the 20th century were the damage to the ecosystem caused by overgrazing and tourism vehicles and the diminishing of black rhinoceros, leopard, and elephant populations because of poaching. ♣
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