Editing Serengeti National Park (section)

==Wildlife==
Serengeti National Park forms a Lion Conservation Unit since 2005 together with [[Maasai Mara National Reserve]].<ref>{{cite book |author=IUCN Cat Specialist Group |year=2006 |title= Conservation Strategy for the Lion ''Panthera leo'' in Eastern and Southern Africa |publisher=IUCN |location=Pretoria, South Africa}}</ref>
More than 3,000 lions live in this ecosystem.<ref>{{cite report |author1=Mésochina, P. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Mbangwa, O. |author3=Chardonnet, P. |author4=Mosha, R. |author5=Mtui, B. |author6=Drouet, N. |author7=Kissui, B. |year=2010 |title=Conservation status of the lion (''Panthera leo'' Linnaeus, 1758) in Tanzania |publisher=SCI Foundation, MNRT-WD, TAWISA & IGF Foundation |place=Paris}}</ref> In 1994, an outbreak of canine distemper led to the deaths of approximately one-third of the lion population in the area. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Serengeti National Park {{!}} Location, Facts, & Animals {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Serengeti-National-Park |access-date=2025-01-11 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> 

The population density of the [[African leopard]] is estimated at 5.41 individuals per 100 km<sup>2</sup> (14.0 per 100 sq miles) in the dry season.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Allen, M.L. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Wang, S. |author3=Olson, L.O. |author4=Li, Q. |author5=Krofel, M. |year=2020 |title=Counting cats for conservation: seasonal estimates of leopard density and drivers of distribution in the Serengeti |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=29 |issue=13 |pages=3591–3608 |doi=10.1007/s10531-020-02039-w |bibcode=2020BiCon..29.3591A |s2cid=221167378 |url=https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?id=135461&dn=}}</ref>

[[African bush elephant]] herds recovered from a population low in the 1980s caused by [[poaching]], and numbered over 5,000 individuals by 2014.<ref>{{cite report |author1=Mduma, H. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Musyoki, C. |author3=Maliti Kyale, D. |author4=Nindi, S. |author5=Hamza, K. |author6=Ndetei, R. |author7=Machoke, M. |author8=Kimutai, D. |author9=Muteti, D. |author10=Maloba, M. |author11=Bakari, S.  |author12=Kohi, E. |title=Aerial Total Count of Elephants and Buffaloes in the Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem |date=2014 |publisher=WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature |place=Nairobi, Kenya |url=http://www.kws.go.ke/kws/sites/default/files/Mara%20Elephant%20Count%20Report.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909055741/http://www.kws.go.ke/kws/sites/default/files/Mara%20Elephant%20Count%20Report.pdf |archive-date=9 September 2016}}</ref> The [[African buffalo]] population declined between 1976 and 1996 due to poaching, but increased to 28,524 individuals by 2008.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Metzger, K.L. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Sinclair, A.R.E. |author3=Hilborn, R. |author4=Hopcraft, J.G.C. |author5=Mduma, S.A. |year=2010 |title=Evaluating the protection of wildlife in parks: the case of African buffalo in Serengeti |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=19 |issue=12  |pages=3431–3444 |doi=10.1007/s10531-010-9904-z |doi-access=free |bibcode=2010BiCon..19.3431M}}</ref> The [[Eastern black rhinoceros]] population was reduced to about 10 individuals in the 1980s due to poaching, and fewer than 70 individuals survive in the park today.<ref>{{cite news |title=How black rhinos and local communities help each other in Namibia |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2015/01/how-black-rhinos-and-local-communities-help-each-other-in-namibia/ |work=Mongabay Environmental News |date=2015}}</ref> Rhinos mostly browse on grasses, woody ''[[Indigofera]]'', ''[[Acacia]]'' and ''[[Crotalaria]]'' [[forb]]s and shrubs.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Anderson, T.M. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Ngoti, P.M. |author3=Nzunda, M.L. |author4=Griffith, D.M. |author5=Speed, J.D. |author6=Fossøy, F. |author7=Røskaft, E. |author8=Graae, B.J. |title=The burning question: does fire affect habitat selection and forage preference of the black rhinoceros ''Diceros bicornis'' in East African savannahs? |year=2020 |journal=Oryx |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=234–243 |doi=10.1017/S0030605318000388 |doi-access=free}}</ref> An estimated 3,520 Masai [[Giraffe|giraffes]] lived in the park in 2010, down from 10,750 in 1977.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Strauss |first=M. K. L. |last2=Kilewo |first2=M. |last3=Rentsch |first3=D. |last4=Packer |first4=C. |date=2015 |title=Food supply and poaching limit giraffe abundance in the Serengeti |url=https://esj-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1007/s10144-015-0499-9 |journal=Population Ecology |language=en |volume=57 |issue=3 |pages=505–516 |doi=10.1007/s10144-015-0499-9 |issn=1438-390X}}</ref> The giraffe population stabilized in the center of the protected area since 2010, but continued to decline in edge areas.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bond |first=Monica L. |last2=Behr |first2=Dominik M. |last3=Lee |first3=Derek E. |last4=Strauss |first4=Megan K. L. |last5=Campbell |first5=Petra E. |last6=Cavener |first6=Douglas R. |last7=Lohay |first7=George G. |last8=Madeli |first8=James M. |last9=Paniw |first9=Maria |last10=Ozgul |first10=Arpat |date=2025-05-13 |title=Demographic drivers of population dynamics reveal subpopulation‐specific conservation needs for giraffes in the Serengeti Ecosystem |url=https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jwmg.70037 |journal=The Journal of Wildlife Management |language=en |doi=10.1002/jwmg.70037 |issn=0022-541X}}</ref>

Other mammal carnivores include the [[cheetah]],<ref name="allafrica">{{Cite news|title=Tanzania: Concern As Serengeti Leopards Resort to Cannibalism |publisher=allafrica |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/201802260092.html|access-date=23 July 2019}}</ref> about 3,500 [[spotted hyena]], [[black-backed jackal]], [[African golden wolf]], [[honey badger]], [[striped hyena]], [[caracal]], [[serval]], [[banded mongoose]], and two species of [[otter]]s.{{cn|date=August 2022}} The [[African wild dog]] was returned to the area in 2012 after disappearing in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019 |title=Why did Serengeti's wild dogs disappear? Study challenges controversial hypothesis |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/why-did-serengetis-wild-dogs-disappear-study-challenges-controversial-hypothesis/|access-date=28 May 2021 |work=Mongabay Environmental News}}</ref> Other mammals include [[hippopotamus]], [[common warthog]], [[aardvark]], [[aardwolf]], [[African wildcat]], [[African civet]], [[common genet]], [[zorilla]], [[African striped weasel]], [[bat-eared fox]], [[ground pangolin]], [[crested porcupine]], three species of [[hyrax]]es and [[Cape hare]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Kennedy|first=A. S. |url= |title=Animals of the Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Conservation Area |date=2014 |author2=Kennedy, V. |isbn=978-1-4008-5138-6|location=Princeton, New Jersey|oclc=873760148}}</ref> Primates such as [[yellow baboon|yellow]] and [[olive baboon]]s, [[vervet monkey]], and [[mantled guereza]] are also seen in the gallery forests of the [[Grumeti River]].<ref name=":3" />

Reptiles include [[Nile crocodile]], [[leopard tortoise]], [[serrated hinged terrapin]], [[Agama agama|rainbow agama]], [[Nile monitor]], [[Jackson's chameleon]], [[African rock python|African python]], [[black mamba]], [[black-necked spitting cobra]], and [[Bitis arietans|puff adder]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

More than 500 bird species can be seen such as [[Masai ostrich]], [[secretarybird]], [[kori bustard]]s, [[helmeted guineafowl]]s, [[grey-breasted spurfowl]], [[blacksmith lapwing]], [[African collared dove]], [[red-billed buffalo weaver]],  [[southern ground hornbill]], [[Balearica|crowned crane]]s, [[sacred ibis]], [[cattle egret]]s, [[black heron]]s, [[knob-billed duck]]s, [[saddle-billed stork]]s, [[white stork]], [[goliath heron]]s, [[marabou stork]]s, [[yellow-billed stork]], [[spotted thick-knee]]s, [[lesser flamingo]], [[shoebill]]s, [[abdim's stork]], [[hamerkop]]s, [[hadada ibis]], [[african fish eagle]]s, [[pink-backed pelican]]s, [[tanzanian red-billed hornbill]], [[martial eagle]]s, [[egyptian geese]], [[lovebird]]s, [[spur-winged geese]], [[oxpecker]]s, and many species of vultures.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bird Checklist for Serengeti National Park |url=http://www.exoticbirding.com/tanzania/serengeti/checklist.html|access-date=28 May 2021 |website=www.exoticbirding.com}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Eastern Africa: the Greater Serengeti grassland ecosystem in northern Tanzania {{!}} Ecoregions {{!}} WWF |access-date=7 June 2021 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/at0714 |work=World Wildlife Fund}}</ref>

=== Great migration ===
The great migration is the world's second longest overland migration. The complete migration route is around {{convert|500|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}}. South of this migration route covers the [[Ngorongoro Conservation Area]] where around half a million [[Blue wildebeest|wildebeest]] are born between January and March. By March, at the beginning of the dry season, roughly 1.5 million wildebeest and 250,000 [[Plains zebra|zebras]] start to migrate north towards [[Maasai Mara]] in Kenya. [[Common eland]], [[plains zebra]], and [[Thomson's gazelle]] join the wildebeest. In April and May, the migrating herds pass through the Western Corridor. To get to the Maasai Mara, the herds have to cross the Grumeti and Mara Rivers, where around 3,000 crocodiles lie in wait. For every wildebeest captured by the crocodiles, 50 drown. When the dry season ends in late October, the migrating herds start to head back south. Around 250,000 wildebeests and 30,000 plains zebras die annually from drowning, predation, exhaustion, thirst, or disease.<ref name=Medina2019>{{Cite book |title=Where Is the Serengeti? |author=Medina, N. |date=2019 |publisher=Penguin Random House |series=WhoHQ |location=New York |isbn=9781524792565 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O-iBDwAAQBAJ}}</ref>