Key Information
Serengeti
| Type | National Park and Ecosystem |
| Area | 12,000 square miles (national park and surrounding areas) |
| Altitude | 3,020 to 6,070 feet |
| Established (National Park) | 1940 |
Learning Point
- The Serengeti is a vast and legendary ecosystem in East Africa, spanning parts of Tanzania and Kenya, famous for its sweeping plains and incredibly rich wildlife. It’s most renowned for the Great Migration, an epic annual journey where millions of wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles travel in search of fresh grazing lands, a spectacle so massive it can be seen from space. Beyond this incredible event, the Serengeti is a thriving natural habitat for a wide array of animals, including Africa’s “Big Five”—lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, and Cape buffalo—who live out a constant, dramatic cycle of life and death.
Project
- Draw you and your family on safari in the Serengeti with some of the animals you’d like to see.
- Overview
- Map of Parks
- Great Migration
Location
| Located in | Tanzania (and a small part in Kenya) |
Fun Facts
- The name “Serengeti” is thought to come from a word used by the Maasai people that means “the place where the land runs on forever“—a perfect name for its endless, grassy plains.
- The Serengeti is home to the Great Migration, which is the largest movement of land animals in the entire world! Millions of wildebeest, zebras, and other animals travel together to find food and water.
- It is one of the best places on Earth to see the “Big Five” animals: lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, and Cape buffalo.
- Some of the rocky hills you see in the Serengeti, called “kopjes”, were the inspiration for Pride Rock in the movie The Lion King.
Past Lessons
| 168 | September 15, 2025 | (North America) |