Welcome to Ngorongoro Crater Tanzania
Ngorongoro Crater: Famous for the big five and amazing landscape
The Ngorongoro Crater, situated in Tanzania, lies within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which encompasses extensive highland plains, savanna woodlands, and forests. Established in 1959 as an area for multiple uses, this region allows for wildlife to share the space with semi-nomadic Maasai pastoralists who maintain their traditional livestock grazing practices.
It features the stunning Ngorongoro Crater, recognized as the largest caldera in the world. This site holds worldwide significance for biodiversity conservation due to the presence of globally endangered species, the high concentration of wildlife in this region, and the yearly migration of wildebeest, zebras, gazelles, and other animals to the northern plains. Comprehensive archaeological studies have uncovered a rich history of human evolution and the interactions between humans and their environment, including early hominid footprints that are approximately 3.6 million years old.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, covering 809,440 hectares, spans wide expanses of highland plains, savanna, savanna woodlands, and forests, extending from the Serengeti National Park's plains in the northwest to the eastern arm of the Great Rift Valley.
This area was designated in 1959 for multiple land uses, allowing for the coexistence of wildlife and semi-nomadic Maasai pastoralists who practice traditional livestock grazing. It includes the impressive Ngorongoro Crater, which is the world's largest caldera, as well as Olduvai Gorge, a deep ravine that measures 14 kilometers in length.
The site is globally significant for biodiversity preservation, particularly because of the presence of endangered species like the black rhino, the high wildlife density found in the Ngorongoro Crater and its surrounding regions year-round, along with the seasonal migration of wildebeest, zebras, Thompson’s and Grant’s gazelles, and other ungulates into the northern plains.