The Serengeti, Tanzania's most famous game park, is contiguous with the Masai Mara in neighboring Kenya. With some 1.5 million animals, it has the largest concentration of wildlife in the world and includes both migratory and resident populations. The seemingly endless plains of Serengeti National Park are a haven for hoofed animals. Wildebeest, gazelle, zebra, antelope, topi, and buffalo all wander here in search of grass and water. Their vast numbers sustain many predators, including lion, cheetah, leopard, and hyena. Beautiful acacia trees, interspersed with magnificent rock outcroppings called "kopjes," offer predators both shade and vantage points. Giraffe, elephant, and the increasingly rare rhino inhabit areas where the plains are more wooded.

The swampland in the western part of the Park is home to a variety of water birds, including crowned crane, ibis, and egret. In all, more than 500 species of bird have been recorded within the park. The Serengeti ecosystem has been under long-term study for more than 30 years. Hopefully, this huge reserve will continue to offer a glimpse of what Africa must have looked like before hunters began their thoughtless slaughter of the plains animals in the 19th century.

The Serengeti-Mara region is the setting for a huge mass movement of wildebeest each year. The number of migrating animals is upwards of two million and includes some zebra and Thompson's gazelle. The spectacle of great herds of thousands of animals spread out on the plains from horizon to horizon in an unsettled mass is quite impressive, as is the accompanying cacophony of noise.