The Maasai people had been grazing their livestock in the open plains which they knew as “endless plain” for over 200 years when the first white man, Stewart Edward White recorded coming across it in 1913. The name Serengeti is an approximation of the word used by the Maasai to describe the area. The area was declared as a ‘protected area’ in 1921 by the then German colonial administration. The national park was gazetted in 1951 by the English administration and it then became famous after the initial work of Bernhard Grzimek and his son Michael in the 1950’s. Together they produced the book and film Serengeti Shall Not Die, widely recognized as one of the most important early pieces of nature conservation documentary.

• Masai Mara National Reserve
• Ngorongoro Conservation Area