Over 200 years!

About 200 years ago the Maasai arrived and have since colonised the area in substantial numbers, their traditional way of life allowing them to live in harmony with the wildlife and the environment. Today there are some 42,000 Maasai pastoralists living in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area with their cattle, donkeys, goats and sheep. The Maasai are allowed to take their animals into the crater for water and grazing, but not to live or cultivate there. Elsewhere in the NCA they have the right to roam freely.