Serengeti National park is located in Arusha Tanzania. The park is because of the frequently migrating wildebeests, which is one of the wonders of the world. Serengeti national park borders Kenya’s Maasai Mara game reserve. Due to the two existing next to each other, the wildebeests seasonally migrate from Kenya’s Maasai Mara to Tanzania’s Serengeti (Casey et al 17). Serengeti National Park is the most prestigious Park in East and Central Africa. There coexist ecological biodiversity and life sustaining implications of food webs and food chains. This paper will vividly elaborate the nature of science in Serengeti.
Surveys from camera trapping projects undertaken by researchers have clearly illustrated the groupings of the animals in Serengeti ecosystem. According such findings, animals can be grouped according to behaviours, feeding habits’, appearance such as skin colours and tail possession, and movements. The animals grouped according to behaviour patterns include; Aadirvard, Aardwolf, baboons, bat-eared fox, Dik-dik, eland, gazelle and genet. Those grouped according to how their appearance includes; giraffe, guinea fowl, hare, hartebeest, hippopotamus, hyena, honey badger, impala, jackal, leopard lion, mongoose and ostrich. On the other hand, there some which are classified according to tail possessing. This group of animals include; reptiles, rhinoceros, rodents, monkeys, Topi, warthogs, waterbucks, wildcats, wildebeests, zebra and gorilla. All the above animals live in the same ecosystem. According to scientific animal classification, there exist three groups: herbivorous, carnivorous, and omnivores (Casey et al 14).
In Serengeti national park, there exist carnivores that only feed on meet. These carnivores therefore feed on other animals termed as prey. Animals like lions, cheetah and leopards feed on herbivores such as antelopes. Due to this enmity of preyer- predator relationship amongst animals, there exist different adaptations to various animals. Predators such as lions and leopards move very fast to cope with the quick speed of their prey. Lions usually run against the wind to avoid being smelt or seen by their victims. They attack in groups whereby lioness lead in attacking while the male one only comes to assist and in any case to kill those dangerous predators. These movements in groups also avoid any retaliations from preys and maximize on swift ones. Sometimes the lion’s attack their victims from behind them move in groups.
Herbivores as buffalo and antelope have their adaptions to resisting .Serengeti maximally supports up to sixteen groups of herbivores that have specialized in different habitats. Through a study on behavioural mechanisms, researchers have proven that they graze mostly away from dense grass areas to avoid predators. Some have sensitive hooves like antelopes to sense danger. Gazelles move swiftly to encounter the speed of lions (Kaltenborn et al 124).
Baboons move together in groups led by a male one who can scare away enemies. Antelopes have massive horns and are light to move fast, and others possess acute eyesights to see enemies from far. Giraffes have very long neck to manoeuvre through tall thorny bushes in order to get their food. Others possess behavioural activities to facilitate defence mechanisms. Some like rodents hibernate while others camouflage to scare away enemies. Others like Buffaloes are energetic to kill or scare aware predators.
In conclusion, Serengeti National Park has a variety of animals with different food chains and food webs. These animals have myriad characteristics to enhance survival in the entire ecosystem or habitat. The predator-prey relationships in the entire biodiversity necessitate distinctive survival traits, which enable protection and food acquiring mechanisms.
Works Cited
Casey, George, Paul Novros, Mose Richards, and James E. Jones. Africa: The Serengeti. Valencia N.p., n.d. Print.
Kaltenborn, Bjørn P., Tore Bjerke, Julius W. Nyahongo, and Daniel R. Williams. "Animal Preferences and Acceptability of Wildlife Management Actions around Serengeti National Park, Tanzania." Biodiversity and Conservation (2006): n. pag. Print.
Snapshot Serengeti. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2014.
