The geography and wildlife of Tarangire

a huge inward migration during Jun-Oct

The main wildlife feature in Tarangire is the seasonal migration, involving around 250,000 large mammals including giraffes, buffaloes, oryx, ostriches and lions.

During the Jun-Nov dry season animals migrate in towards the Tarangire River, where they congregate in great numbers. The wildlife viewing can be extremely strong.

During the converse Dec-May green season, the animals disperse into the vast hinterland and are much more difficult to find. Although this in and out movement is common between species, different animals tend to move on different routes at different times. Wildebeest and zebras mainly move northwards towards Lake Manyara and on towards Lake Natron. The main bulk of the wildlife, including buffaloes, gazelles, elephants, kongonis, elands and oryx move out onto the plains to the east and southeast. Other herds of wildebeest, zebras, buffaloes and elands also move in a more southerly direction.

The most significant component of this migration is the elephant population, which is thought to now involve 5000 to 10000 animals. We have personally counted over 1000 elephants in a single day, in a mix of breeding and bachelor herds.

Resident species which remain within the park throughout the year include lions, leopards, cheetahs, waterbucks, impalas, warthogs, dikdiks, giraffes and lesser kudus.

There are also chances for some particularly unusual animal sightings here, such as the enormous African pythons that hang out in the trees around Silale Swamps.

This is also the only part of the northern parks where you might see greater kudus, fringe-eared oryx, bohor reedbucks and gerenuks.