Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater teems with wildlife

The Ngorongoro Crater is roughly 12 miles across by 13 miles long, surrounded by the mountains forming its perfect rim.  This is a small area so rich in ecosystems and wildlife that it is one of the premier game parks in the world.

The Crater's ecosystems include savannah, marshlands, shallow clear and salt water lakes and forests, providing a homeland to a large variety of animals.  Lions and cheetahs represent the cat family, though cheetahs are struggling to survive here.  The Crater's 120 hyenas have killed most of the cubs over the last few years.  When we were here 3 years ago, we saw 6 cheetahs and 31 lions.  Today, we saw only 2 cheetahs and 3 lions (though many more lions live in Ngorongoro).

Wildebeest and their companion zebra abound, as do Thompson's Gazelles (multiplying with fewer cheetahs to eat them),  Grant's Gazelles, Cape Buffalo, elephants, hippos, countless bird species (thousands and thousands of pink flamingos), monkeys, baboons, hyenas, jackals and 28 Black Rhinos who are rarely seen since they hide out in a roadless area.  Nonetheless, we were lucky enough to see 2 of the Black Rhinos, close enough to photograph and enjoy with our binoculars.

The jackals tend to follow the cats as they hunt, ready to eat the dregs after the cats have eaten all they want.  They compete with the many vultures for the scraps.  The Golden Jackal, a beautiful little dog, is common in the Crater.  Below are photos of some of the animals we saw today.  There will be other posts with more photos.

A male ostrich resting