Geography in the News Geography in the News from The Map Report Africa's Serengeti Plain by Neal Lineback Professor and Chair, Department of Geography and Planning, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina USA Africa's wild animal population has long been recognized as one of the world's great wonders. As tourists flock to East Africa to view the wondrous herds of large game animals, scientists are desperately trying to find out what is killing the big cats on Africa's Serengeti Plain. A recent Associated Press article describes the virus spreading through the felines as a '. . . One of the researchers is quoted as saying that more than 30 percent of the lions have died in recent months in the Serengeti National Park.
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The famous Serengeti Plain is located in East Africa in northern Tanzania and southwestern Kenya. About half of this total is included in game reserves, including the Serengeti National Park. The Serengeti's climate is a tropical wet and dry climate, with two wet seasons, the principal one occurring during April and May and the secondary one in November and December. Because the plain is high in elevation, the tropical heat is somewhat moderated. As is typical of this climate, the vegetative response is a grassy scrubland with a few tropical trees, such as the baobab and acacia, dotting the landscape.