SERENGETI: THE Tanzania government has deployed an aircraft to conduct aerial patrols over Serengeti National Park after weeks of heavy rains flooded roads and river crossings, leaving several safari vehicles stranded across the vast wildlife reserve.
Officials said the aircraft is scanning large areas of the park to identify stranded tourist convoys and relay their locations to ground rescue teams.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism launched the operation through the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) as part of an emergency response to assist visitors and safari guides trapped by waterlogged routes.
The Serengeti — one of Africa’s best-known wildlife destinations and home to the annual Great Migration — has experienced weeks of intense rainfall that conservation officials say has made travel across parts of the park difficult.
“Tourists’ and guides’ safety must be the absolute priority,” said Ismail Omary Ismail, chief conservator of the park, who is coordinating the rescue effort.
“Our teams are working around the clock to locate and assist vehicles affected by flooding,” he said.
Rescue teams made up of park rangers, conservation officers and medical personnel have been stationed at strategic locations across the reserve.
Recovery crews are using tractors, motor graders and heavy-duty trucks to pull vehicles from flooded tracks, while the aircraft carries out aerial surveillance over remote sections of the park.
Once stranded vehicles are spotted from the air, their coordinates are transmitted to ground teams using GPS tracking and mobile radio communication systems, allowing recovery units to reach the affected areas more quickly, Ismail said.
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Several access roads in central Serengeti have been partially submerged, including sections along the Seronera–Naabi corridor commonly used by safari vehicles entering the park’s interior.
At several drifts and culverts, floodwaters have surged over dirt roads, forcing tour operators to suspend journeys for hours.
TANAPA said no injuries or fatalities had been reported.
Massana Mwishawa, deputy conservation commissioner at TANAPA, who toured some of the affected areas, said the flooding underscored the vulnerability of protected areas and tourism infrastructure to extreme weather.
Scientists and conservationists say climate change is intensifying rainfall variability across East Africa, making weather patterns less predictable and complicating wildlife management and tourism operations in national parks.
Tourism remains one of Tanzania’s leading sources of foreign exchange, with the Serengeti widely regarded as the crown jewel of the country’s wildlife attractions.
Authorities said their immediate priority is ensuring the safety of visitors and guides as rescue teams continue navigating muddy tracks and swollen streams across the reserve.
