The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a conservation area situated 180 km (112 miles) west of Arusha in the Crater Highlands area of Tanzania.. It covers an area of 8,288 km (3,200 square miles). The Ngorongoro Crater is within the area and is the world's largest volcanic caldera.
Based on fossil evidence, it is known that various human species (hominids) have occupied the area for 3 million years. Hunter gatherers were replaced by pastorialists a few thousand years ago. The Mbulu came to the area about 2,000 years ago, and were joined by the Datooga around the year 1700. Both groups were driven from the area by the Maasai in the 1800s.
A population of approximately 25,000 large animals with reputedly the highest density of mammalian predators in Africa, lives in the crater. These include the black rhinoceros and the hippopotamus. Also found here are wildebeest, zebra, eland, and and gazelles.
The crater has the densest known population of lions. On the crater rim are leopards, elephants, mountain reedbuck, and buffalo
Female lions on the hunt in Ngorongoro Crater
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area
