Are There Animals In The Ngorongoro Crater?

Are There Animals In The Ngorongoro Crater?  Ngorongoro crater is one of the best destinations to travel to while on your adventurous safari in Tanzania because it is famously know  to be a good natural habitat to all the African big five animals including the rare black rhinoceros species and others like; lions, leopards, elephants  and buffalos. In addition, the Ngorongoro crater is one of the places where to see the black rhinos in the country. More so, it is a UNESCO World Heritage which is well recognized because if its Ngorongoro crater which is considered as the main feature of the Ngorongoro conservation area and the world’s largest unbroken volcanic caldera. Ngorongoro crater was formed when a volcano blew up about 2-3 million years ago. It is 2,000 feet deep and covers 260 square kilometres. Ngorongoro conservation area in which Ngorongoro crater lies is situated in the northern region of Tanzania about 153 kilometers west of Arusha Town the safari capital of Tanzania. Black rhinos are a highly endangered species of animal that used to live in most of sub-Saharan Africa but is now close to extinction because of excessive hunting. They are native to Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Rhinos are in the family Rhinocerotidae, and there are different subspecies of them. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says that three subspecies are extinct. Rhinos are called “Kifaru” in the native Swahili language. There are two kinds of rhinos: black rhinos and white rhinos. Even though they have different names, they are both brown. Rhinos are grouped by the shape of their upper lips, not by their colour. White rhinos have a square upper lip, while black rhinos have a pointy or hooked upper lip. The shape of a rhino’s lips depends on what it eats. Black rhinos are feeders, which means they eat things like trees and bushes. They use their lips to pull leaves and fruits off tree branches. White rhinos eat grass, and when they walk, their squared lips and heads are dropped to the ground.

Black rhinos have two horns, one of which is bigger and more visible than the other. A rhino’s horn grows 3 inches every year and has been known to reach 5 feet in length. The horns are very useful to rhinos, and they use them to protect themselves and their young. Female rhinos use the horns to protect their young, and male rhinos use them as weapons in fight. Black rhinos are smaller in size relative to the two African rhino species, black rhinos are in subspecies that are;

Southern black rhinos.

Southern black rhinos are Extinct black rhinos, prior to they became extinct they once existed in Cape of Good Hope, Transvaal, South Africa and South of Namibia.

North-eastern black rhinos.

Black rhinos from the north-east used to live in the centre of Sudan, in Eritrea, in the north and southeast of Ethiopia, in Djibouti, and in the north and southeast of Somalia.

Chobe black rhinos.

Chobe black rhinos are local species of black rhinos confined to Southeastern Angola in Chobe Valley, Zambezi region in Namibia and northern Botswana, the Chobe black rhinos are almost extinct with only one rhino found in Botswana.

Uganda black rhinos.

Uganda black rhinos are regarded as extinct species immediately found in south Sudan, Uganda, western Kenya and southwestern most Ethiopia.

Are There Animals In The Ngorongoro Crater?
Rhino

Western black rhinos.

Western black rhinos are extinct species black rhinos as stated by IUCN, these black rhinos were once found in south Sudan, northern central African republic, southern Chad, northern Cameroon, northeastern Nigeria and South-eastern Niger.

Eastern black rhinos.

Once, eastern black rhinos lived in south Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, and north-central Tanzania. Now, however, they only live in Kenya and Tanzania.

South-central black rhinos.

Black rhinos live in the north-eastern part of South Africa, Malawi, Botswana, Zambia, the north-eastern part of Tanzania, and the south-eastern part of Kenya. These black rhinos have a head that is about the right size and skin folds that stand out.

South-western black rhinos.

South-western black rhinos are native to northwestern Namibia and southwestern Angola. They have adapted to living in desert and semi-desert conditions. Ngorongoro crater is one of the handful of locations in Africa and Tanzania where you can still find black rhinos and can be sighted on a Tanzania safari. According to figures, there were 100 black rhinos in the crater in 1965, but that number dropped in the 1980s because of poaching. Due to maximum protection steps taken by the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA), there are now 26 black rhinos in Ngorongoro crater.

In the Ngorongoro conservation area, black rhinos are easily spotted within areas of Lerai Forest, between Lerai and Gorigor Swamp. These species usually spend the night in Lerai forest and move to other parts of the crater in the morning. In addition, the best way to see black rhinos in Ngorongoro crater is when you opt to embark on game drives very early in the morning before they spread to find food.

Black rhinos are an extremely endangered animal’s species, which are characterized because of their horns, which happen to be on a   high demand in the international market hence leading to a lot of poaching activities. More so, In North Africa and the Middle East, the rhino’s horn is very valuable because it is used to make decorative knife handles. In China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, the rhino’s horn is also used as a medicine, and in Asia, it is used as an aphrodisiac.

Contact our trusted tour operators for more information about whether there are black rhinos in the Ngorongoro crater and then book with our tours and travel companies such as; Focus East Africa Tours who offer the best tour packages while on your safari in Kenya.

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