All 16 National Parks together comprise an area of more than 42,000 km². They are administered by the Tanzania National Parks authority (TANAPA). Names like Arusha and Serengeti are well known, partly due to films about African wildlife.
National Park |
Habitat |
Flora/Fauna |
Comments |
Picture |
Arusha National Park
established[1]: 1960
renamed[2]: 1967
enlarged: 1973
area: 137 km² |
dense forest, swamp, grassland, lakes, alpine highland, rocks
1,525 - 4,565 m |
giraffe, buffalo, elephant, zebra, dik-dik, hippopotamus, waterbuck, warthog, leopard, eland, spotted hyena, klipspringer, baboon, blue monkey, black-and-white colobus, greater flamingo, lesser flamingo, sacred ibis, Maccoa Duck, Egyptian goose, turaco, Narina Trogon, broadbill, Red-hot Poker, Spanish moss, giant lobelia |
400 bird species |
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Gombe Stream National Park
established[3]: 1943
gazetted[4]: 1968
area: 52 km² |
miombo woodland, gallery forest
750 - 1,500 m |
chimpanzee, olive baboon, red-tailed monkey, red colobus, diademed monkey, leopard, bushbuck, buffalo, waterbuck, barbet, Palm-nut Vulture, Forbes' Plover, fish eagle, Peters's Twinspot |
Jane Goodall worked here |
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Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park
established[5]: 1940s
gazetted[4]: 2004
area: 50 km² |
swamp forest, mangrove, sea grass bed, salt marsh |
Zanzibar red colobus, Ader's Duiker |
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Katavi National Park
established[3]: 1951
gazetted[4]: 1974
area: 4,471 km² |
miombo woodland, river, lakes, floodplain
900 m |
eland, sable antelope, roan antelope, hippopotamus, crocodile, lion, leopard, elephant, zebra, buffalo, topi, pelican, waterfowl |
more than 400 bird species |
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Kilimanjaro National Park
established: 1910s[3], 1921[6]
gazetted: 1973[4]
world heritage: 1987
area: 753 km² |
montane forest, moorland, alpine desert
1830 – 5895 m |
Abbott's duiker, grey duiker, Red Forest Duiker, bushbuck, eland, elephant, leopard, buffalo, small antelope, blue monkey, black-and-white colobus, galago crassicaudatus, Kilimanjaro tree hyrax, Abbot's Starling, raven, papilio sjoestedti, giant lobelia, moss, lichen |
Highest freestanding mountain in the world. World's tallest summit that can be climbed without technical equipment. |
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Kitulo National Park
gazetted[4]: 2002
area: 412.9 km² |
montane grassland at 2,600 m |
red-hot poker, aloe, protea, pelargonium geranium, giant lobelia, lilies, asters, Denham's bustard, Blue Swallow, mountain marsh widow, cisticola njombe, Kipengere Seedeater, Mountain Reedbuck, eland, chameleon, lizards, frogs |
350 species of vascular plants among which 45 varieties of terrestrial orchid, many bird species |
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Lake Manyara National Park
established[3]: 1957
established[4]: 1960
area: 325 km²
enlarged: 2009
area: 644 km² |
lake (2/3), forest, grassland
960 – 1478 m |
elephant, buffalo, lion, black rhinoceros, hippopotamus, impala, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, bushbuck, leopard, baboon, lesser flamingo, greater flamingo, white pelican, yellow-billed stork, White-breasted Cormorant, Palm-nut Vulture, Ayres' Hawk-eagle, Nile monitor, cobra |
greatest biomass density in the world; tree-climbing lions |
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Mahale Mountains National Park
gazetted[4]: 14 June 1985
area: 1,613 km² |
miombo forest, Kasoge (lowland) forest, montane rainforest
773 - 2,460 m |
chimpanzee, red colobus, red-tailed monkey, blue monkey, giant squirrel, Red-legged Sun Squirrel, brush-tailed porcupine, Bushy-tailed Mongoose, Angolan black-and-white colobus, Sharpe's Grysbok, Red-collared Widowbird, speckled mousebird, crowned eagle, bee-eater, roller, crested guineafowl, Ross' Turaco, White-browed Robin-Chat, Red-winged Starling, Violet-backed Starling, parrots |
savanna and forest adapted species, 90% of 193 fish species in the lake are endemic |
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Mikumi National Park
established: 1964
extended: 1975
area: 3,230 km² |
floodplain, grassland, wooded savanna, miombo covered hills
550 - 1,257 m |
eland, greater kudu, yellow baboon, vervet monkey, serval, sable antelope, hippopotamus, zebra, lion, wildebeest, impala, buffalo, giraffe, elephant, lilac-breasted roller, yellow-throated longclaw, bateleur eagle, waterbirds |
more than 400 bird species |
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Mount Meru (Tanzania)
See Arusha National Park |
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Part of Arusha National Park |
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Ruaha National Park
established[3]: 1910
gazetted[4]: 1964
area: 10,300 km² |
miombo woodland, savanna
750-1,830 m |
elephant, hornbill, kingfisher, sunbird, white stork, African Wild Dog, sable antelope, greater kudu, Crested Barbet, Yellow-collared Lovebird |
more than 400 bird species, high diversity of antelopes |
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Rubondo Island National Park
established[4]: 1977
area: 240 km² |
humid forest, lakeside papyrus beds, open grassland
1,134 - 1,381 m |
yellow-spotted otter, Nile perch, fish eagle, hippopotamus, vervet monkey, genet, mongoose, bushbuck, sitatunga, African grey parrot, malachite kingfisher, paradise flycatcher, herons, storks, spoonbills |
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Saadani National Park
established[3]: 1969
gazetted[4]: 2002
area: 1,062 km² |
coast, river, forest, savanna |
giraffe, buffalo, warthog, waterbuck, reedbuck, hartebeest, wildebeest, Red Forest Duiker, greater kudu, eland, sable antelope, yellow baboon, vervet monkey, elephant, lion, leopard, spotted hyena, black-backed jackal, hippopotamus, crocodile, Mangrove Kingfisher, lesser flamingo, green turtle |
only sanctuary bordering the sea |
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Serengeti National Park
established[3]: 1929
gazetted[4]: 1951
world heritage: 1981
area: 14,763 km² |
grassland plains, savanna, riverine forest, woodland;
920 - 1,850 m |
wildebeest, zebra, lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, cheetah, gazelle, giraffe, spotted hyena, jackal, aardwolf, serval, agama lizard, rock hyrax, secretary bird, ostrich, black eagle |
most visited park in Tanzania; famous for massive migration of ungulates; more than 500 bird species |
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Tarangire National Park
established: 1970 [4]
area: 2,850 km² |
grassland, savanna;
1,000 - 1,500 m |
oryx, gerenuk, elephant, baobab, Lesser Kudu, African Wild Dog, lion kori bustard, ground hornbill, ostrich, Yellow-collared Lovebird, Rufous-tailed Weaver, Ashy Starling, dwarf mongoose, Red-and-yellow Barbet |
550 bird varieties; largest concentration of wildlife behind Serengeti |
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Udzungwa Mountains National Park
established[4]: 1994
area: 1,990 km² |
tropical rainforest, mountain forest, miombo woodland, grassland, steppe
250 - 2,600 m |
Rufous-winged Sunbird, Udzungwa Partridge, sanje crested mangabey, Iringa Red Colobus, rungwecerbus kipunji, matundu dwarf galago, Mountain Dwarf Galago, reptiles and amphibians, hyrax, squirrel, also big mammals |
more than 400 bird species, 2,500 plant species; many endemics (25 % of plant species, 5 primates); second-largest biodiversity in Africa |
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Name |
Habitat |
Flora/Fauna |
Comments |
Picture |
Mafia Island Marine Park
established[7]: 1 July 1995
area: 882 km² |
coral reefs, sea grass beds, mangroves, inter-tidal flats, coastal forest |
dugong, gold-striped fusilier, cigar wrasse, queen coris, goldbar wrasse, grouper, barracuda, rainbow runner, black-spotted ribbontail ray, blue-spotted ribbontail ray, eagle ray, manta ray, yellowfin tuna, kingfish, mackerel, bonito, cobia, reef shark, green turtle, hawksbill turtle, comores lesser flying fox, duiker, Bush Pig, mongoose, elephant shrew |
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Mnazi Bay-Ruvumba Estuary Marine Park
established: 1 July 2000
area: 650 km² |
mangroves, sand dunes, sea, coastal forest, river |
coral, whale, dolphin, crocodile, hippopotamus, terrapin |
more than 400 fish species |
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Ngorongoro Conservation Area
established: 1959
world heritage: 1979
area: 8,288 km² |
grassland, lakes, swamp, woodland, heath, dense mountain forest
1,500 - 3,648 m |
wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, black rhinoceros, lion, hartebeest, spotted hyena, hippopotamus, buffalo, elephant, Mountain Reedbuck, leopard, serval, ostrich, kori bustard, papilio sjoestedti |
many archeological and paleontological sites: Olduvai Gorge, Laetoli, Lake Ndutu |
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Selous Game Reserve
established[8]: 1922
world heritage: 1982
area: 44,800 km² |
miombo woodland, open wooded grassland, riverine swamps
80 - 1,300 m |
African wild dog, elephant, cheetah, giraffe, hippopotamus, Buffalo, crocodile, white rhinoceros, |
largest game reserve in Africa; 350 bird species |
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Uwanda Game Reserve
established: 1971
area: 5,000 km² |
floodplain, grassland, woodland
1,200 m |
puku, zebra, topi, buffalo, elephant |
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