Dry Season in Tarangire

Water is essential for life, and this is abundantly clear during the dry season in the African savanna. We recently completed another round of dry-season surveys for giraffe and other ungulates in the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem of Tanzania. The rains will be coming soon, but for now the huge herds of migratory wildebeests, zebras, and elands - as well as resident animals like giraffes and waterbucks - quench their thirst in the Tarangire River and nearby waterholes.

These are the good times for predators like lions, who hunt larger-sized ungulates on their daily commute to the water. We usually see lions nearly every day during this season in Tarangire National Park.

With our Masai Giraffe Conservation Demography and TUNGO projects, as well as our Northern Plains Campaign, the Wild Nature Institute is working to conserve ungulate populations and ensure the future these magnificent animals and the lions, leopards, hyenas, cheetahs, and other predators that depend upon them.