National parks in Tanzania

There are 22 national parks in Tanzania that have been recognized by the Tanzanian National Park Organization (TANAPA).

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Location of the national parks in Tanzania

Geographical overview

National parks and reserves in Tanzania (as of 2007)

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South:

West:

East:

Saadani National Park (13)

history

The oldest national park in Tanzania is Serengeti National Park, which was established in 1951 by Julius Nyerere , the first President of the Republic. In 1960, the two national parks Manyara and Arusha followed. Until 2013 there were fifteen national parks in Tanzania. In 2013 the Saanane National Park was established on the island in Lake Victoria, followed in 2019 by the six national parks Burigi-Chato, Ibanda-Kyerwa, Rumanyika-Karagwe, Nyerere, Kigosi and Ugalla.

Two of the national parks have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Serengeti and Kilimanjaro.

List of national parks

number	Surname	size [km ² ]	Founding year	region	Brief description
1	Serengeti	14,763	1951	Mara , Arusha , Simiyu	The park in northern Tanzania was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 because it is where the world's largest animal migrations take place. A million wildebeest, 900,000 gazelles, 300,000 zebras undertake a 1,000-kilometer circular hike every year.
2	Lake Manyara	649	1960	Arusha , Manyara	The alkaline Lake Manyara west of Arusha is home to a large number and diversity of birds, including flamingos, yellow-billed storks, and herons. Large colonies of baboons and tree-climbing lions also live here.
3	Arusha	552	1960	Arusha	In addition to its easy accessibility, the park offers a charming landscape due to its proximity to Arusha. It also includes high mountains , from the steppe at 1,500 meters above sea level through the jungle to Mount Meru at 4,500 meters . Against the backdrop of Kilimanjaro , you can find hippos and birds near the Momella Lakes, colobus monkeys, coat monkeys and monkeys in the forest region.
4th	Ruaha	20,300	1964	Iringa , Dodoma , Mbeya	This large park on the Ruaha river in central Tanzania offers not only the well-known African mammals such as elephants, lions, antelopes, giraffes and cheetahs, but also the endangered wild dogs and over 500 bird and 1500 species of plants.
5	Mikumi	3,230	1964	Morogoro	The Mikumi Park west of Dar es Salaam comprises two ecosystems: in the northwest the Mkata plain with acacia and baobab trees, inhabited by elephants, zebras, lions, leopards, antelopes and in the southeast the Uluguru Mountains, where over four hundred species of birds occur.
6th	Gombe	71	1968	Kigoma	Located in western Tanzania on Lake Tanganyika , the chimpanzees are the main attraction of the national park. Jane Goodall researched the behavior of these great apes here as early as 1960 .
7th	Tarangire	2,600	1970	Arusha , Dodoma , Manyara	From the plains in the southeast to the great lakes of the Rift Valley in the northwest, the national park offers a wide variety of ecosystems: dry steppes with elephant grass, acacia forests and swamp areas on the Tarangire River. The animal population changes strongly depending on the location and the season.
8th	Kilimanjaro	1,668	1974	Kilimanjaro	The Kilimanjaro area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 because it is the largest free-standing volcano in the world. The 5895 meter high cone towers almost 5000 meters above the surrounding plain.
9	Katavi	4,471	1974	Katavi	Located in the western rift valley, this area offers permanent water points on the Katuma and Kapapa rivers, so that in the dry season large herds of zebras, topis and impalas meet with stationary herds of elephants, lions, jackals and crocodiles.
10	Rubondo	457	1977	Geita , Kagera	In addition to Rubondo Island, the National Park in Lake Victoria includes nine smaller islands and the areas of water in between. The majority of the land areas are pristine forests with grass islands, inhabited by bushbucks, swamp antelopes, otters, hippos and crocodiles. Herons, storks and spoonbills breed in the marshy banks, and more than 400 species of birds have been identified.
11	Mahale Mountains	1,577	1985	Katavi , Kigoma	Located in the west of Tanzania on Lake Tanganyika , this mountainous, forested park is home to colobus, red-tailed and blue monkeys as well as chimpanzees. Thousands of species of fish live in Lake Tanganyika.
12	Udzungwa Mountains	1,990	1992	Morogoro , Iringa	Around 350 kilometers southwest of Darresalaam are the wooded Udzungwa Mountains , the core of which has been declared a national park. Ten species of primates and unique plants live here. The area is particularly suitable for hiking.
13	Saadani	1,100	2005	Pwani , thong	The only national park in Tanzania on the Indian Ocean enables a combination of wildlife viewing and beach holidays. Both walking safaris and boat safaris on the Wami River are offered for wildlife observation.
14th	Kitulo	413	2005	Njombe , Mbeya	In the southwest of Tanzania, the Kitulo National Park is located in the middle of the Kipengere , Poroto and Livingstone Mountains at an altitude of 2700 meters above sea level. The area is called "Bustani ya Mungu" (Garden of God) by the locals because a large number of flowering plants color the slopes with bright colors.
15th	Mkomazi	3,245	2008	Kilimanjaro , thong	Located on the border with Kenya , giraffes, eland antelopes, wildebeests, zebras, antelopes, gazelles, buffalo and numerous predators such as lions, leopards, hyenas and cheetahs live in a dry savannah. The black rhinoceros, which is almost extinct in Tanzania, also occurs here, as do over 400 species of birds. In the southeast you can see the Usambara Mountains , with good visibility also Kilimanjaro in the northwest.
16	Saanane	3	2013	Mwanza	The Saanane National Park is located on an island in Lake Victoria, directly in front of the town of Mwanza . Founded as a zoo in 1964, wild animals were brought to the island and declared a game reserve in 1991.
17th	Burigi-Chato	4,707	2019	Kagera , Geita	This national park is located between Lake Victoria and Rwanda with hippos, sitatungas, impalas, lions, antelopes and elephant walks. The most famous bird species are the saddle-billed stork, osprey, Senegalese lapwing and shoebill stork.
18th	Ibanda-Kyerwa	299	2019	Kagera	In the northwest of Tanzania, on the border with Rwanda and Uganda , this park is home to many mammals, such as leopards, hippos, roan antelopes and buffalo.
19th	Rumanyika-Karagwe	247	2019	Kagera	The best time for bird watching in this national park on the Kagera River in northwest Tanzania is the rainy season from January to April. The park is also home to elephants, elands, waterbuck, roan antelopes, giraffes, warthogs, lions and hippos.
20th	Nyerere	30,893	2019	Lindi , Pwani , Morogoro	This largest national park in Tanzania is located in the south-east of the country and offers largely undisturbed nature. Large herds of elephants and buffalo live around the Rufij River , as well as numerous lions and the endangered African wild dogs.
21st	Kigosi	7,460	2019	Kigoma , Tabora , Geita	The Kigosi National Park in western Tanzania comprises the largest wetland ecosystem of all East African reserves. Rare water birds such as the braided crane and the shoebill stork live here, but also the mammals Sitatunga, waterbuck and buffalo.
22nd	Ugalla River	3,865	2019	Tabora	In western central Tanzania, the Ugalla River slowly flows through a landscape of rolling hills and wide valleys with miombo forests and tall grass savannas. Sitatunga antelopes and waterfowl such as shoebill storks and braided cranes live in its swampy sections to the west. In the dry season from July to October, many wild animals are concentrated on its banks. Elephants, buffalo, lions, leopards, giraffes, zebras and herds of sable and roan antelopes meet crocodiles and hippos living in the river.