Game Reserves in Tanzania

Tanzania‘s game reserves are large protected wildlife areas that run under different rules from its national parks, and the biggest of them, the former Selous Game Reserve, became mostly Nyerere National Park after the government split it in 2019. Reserves like Grumeti, Maswa and the remaining Selous blocks permit regulated activities that parks forbid, including trophy hunting inside licensed concessions. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area and community Wildlife Management Areas add two further tiers of protection, so a Tanzania safari can cross several land categories in one trip.

People planning a first trip often trip over the labels. Park, reserve, conservation area, WMA. They read like the same thing dressed in different words, yet they are not, and the difference changes what you can do on the ground, who runs the place, and often what the drive in feels like. This guide walks through the main reserves, what sets a reserve apart from a park, and where photographic safaris fit into a system that still leaves room for regulated hunting in the quieter corners.

What a Game Reserve Means on a Tanzania Safari

A game reserve in Tanzania is land set aside primarily to protect wildlife, but the protection is looser than a national park allows. That single legal difference drives everything else. In a national park, run by the Tanzania National Parks Authority, no consumptive use is permitted at all. You look, you photograph, you leave. Nothing is taken. A game reserve sits under the Wildlife Division rather than TANAPA, and inside its boundaries regulated trophy hunting can be licensed in designated blocks, alongside or instead of photographic tourism.

So the same word, reserve, can mean two very different visitor experiences depending on which one you pick. A handful of reserves are geared toward camera safaris and feel much like a park to the traveller. Most of the rest are leased to professional hunting outfitters and see very few photographic visitors from one season to the next. Knowing which is which saves a lot of confusion when you book.

Nyerere National Park Safaris in the Former Selous Game Reserve

The clearest way to understand Tanzania’s reserves is to look at what happened to the largest one. For decades the Selous Game Reserve was the giant of the map, one of the oldest and biggest protected areas in Africa. In 2019 the government split it. The northern, central and western portions, roughly 30,893 square kilometres, were gazetted as Nyerere National Park, named for the country’s founding president. That single act converted the prime photographic heart of the old reserve into the largest national park in East Africa, purely for camera safaris.

A Nyerere National Park safari now delivers what the northern Selous always did, minus any hunting. The Rufiji River runs through it, feeding a chain of lakes that draw elephant, hippo, crocodile and big herds of buffalo to the water. Boat safaris are the signature here, a rarity in Tanzania, and they let you watch the shoreline from the river rather than a vehicle. Wild dogs den in this ecosystem too, and Nyerere holds one of the more reliable populations in Africa, though sightings are never guaranteed and depend heavily on the denning season.

Selous Game Reserve Hunting Blocks and Photographic Access

The eastern remainder kept the Selous Game Reserve name, and it covers something in the order of 20,000 square kilometres. This is where the reserve category shows its other face. These blocks were carved into hunting concessions and leased to professional trophy hunting companies, so the southern Selous today functions mainly as a regulated hunting area rather than a general tourism destination.

That does not make it lawless or unmanaged. Trophy hunting in Tanzania is licensed, quota controlled and tied to conservation funding, and the revenue has long been argued to keep vast tracts of wilderness in wildlife rather than farmland. For the average camera safari traveller, though, the practical takeaway is simple. When someone offers you a “Selous safari,” check carefully whether they mean the photographic Nyerere side or one of the hunting blocks, because a standard game viewing trip belongs in the park, not the reserve concessions.

Grumeti Game Reserve Safaris in the Serengeti Ecosystem

Not every reserve is a hunting story. Grumeti Game Reserve sits along the western edge of the Serengeti and forms part of the greater Serengeti ecosystem, created by the government in 1994 to protect a stretch of the wildebeest migration route. Management of its roughly 350,000 acres was later handed to the Grumeti Fund, which runs it as a photographic and conservation area rather than a hunting block.

A Grumeti safari is best known for two things. First, the western corridor river crossings: during roughly June and July the migration herds pour toward the crocodile heavy Grumeti River on the loop back toward Kenya, and the drama of those crossings is one of the calendar’s high points. Second, the lions. Grumeti carries large prides, some reported at twenty to sixty individuals, which makes for strong predator viewing when the herds are in residence. Because the reserve is run as a low volume concession, game drives here tend to feel far quieter than the busy central Serengeti.

Maswa Game Reserve and Ikorongo Tours Along the Migration Route

South of the Serengeti lies Maswa Game Reserve, a large block that acts as a buffer for the wider ecosystem and props up both the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Maswa supports part of the calving grounds region where the migration pauses to give birth, so its ecological role is bigger than its visitor profile. It carries hunting concessions in parts, but sections also see photographic use, and the surrounding country holds real cultural interest with Sukuma and Hadzabe communities living nearby.

Alongside it, Ikorongo Game Reserve and Grumeti together shield the western migration route, and these are among the reserves genuinely accessible to camera safari travellers rather than hunters only. A Maswa or Ikorongo tour tends to pair with a broader Serengeti itinerary rather than standing alone, letting you follow the herds across the softer reserve boundaries where vehicle density drops away. Sightings still hinge on where the migration sits that month, so flexibility helps.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area Safaris and the Multiple Land Use Model

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is neither a straight park nor a straight game reserve, and it is worth understanding on its own terms. Set up in 1959 and later listed by UNESCO, it runs on a multiple land use model, the only one of its kind in East Africa. Wildlife, tourism and Maasai pastoralists share the same land by design, with the Maasai treated as part of the system rather than removed from it. The Maasai population inside the area has grown from around 8,000 people in 1959 to close to 100,000 today, which has put real strain on the balance the model tries to hold.

For the traveller, a Ngorongoro safari usually centres on the crater floor, a collapsed volcanic caldera holding one of the densest concentrations of large mammals anywhere, including a chance at black rhino, which are hard to find elsewhere in the country. Because grazing and settlement coexist with the wildlife on the highland rim, you often see Maasai herders and their cattle beside zebra and wildebeest, a working picture of the multiple use idea rather than a fenced tourist set piece.

Wildlife Management Area Safaris and Community Conservation

The newest tier sits closest to the people who live beside the animals. Wildlife Management Areas, or WMAs, are blocks of village land that communities set aside for conservation and tourism. Tanzania launched 16 pilot WMAs in 2003, aiming to link wildlife protection with poverty reduction by letting villages earn directly from the wildlife on their doorstep. Revenue comes from photographic game viewing, concession fees paid by operators, and in some areas regulated hunting.

A WMA safari matters for reasons beyond the game viewing. When the community holds the land and keeps the income, the incentive to protect wildlife rather than clear it for crops grows stronger, and several WMAs near the northern circuit have shown better conservation results partly because they can earn well from camera tourism. For a traveller, choosing a lodge inside a WMA is one of the more direct ways to put safari money into local hands. Wildlife densities vary widely between WMAs, so expect a quieter, less predictable experience than a headline park.

Central Tanzania Hunting Reserve Safaris: Rungwa, Ugalla and Kizigo

Away from the tourist circuits, a broad belt of reserves across central and western Tanzania exists almost entirely for regulated hunting rather than photography. Rungwa Game Reserve, bordering Ruaha National Park, is a vast wilderness of open savannah and miombo woodland known for healthy lion and leopard numbers. Around it lie Kizigo, Muhesi, Ugalla, the Moyowosi and Kigosi complex, Rukwa, Lukwati and others, most leased as hunting concessions.

These reserves rarely feature in a standard Tanzania safari plan, and that is the point worth carrying away. Their remoteness and thin road networks keep casual visitors out, while the hunting revenue funds anti poaching work across enormous roadless country that would otherwise struggle to pay its way. If your interest is game drives and photography, you will spend your time in the parks and the accessible reserves. The central hunting blocks belong to a different kind of visitor entirely, and knowing they exist explains why the reserve map looks so much bigger than the places you will actually drive through.

Game Reserve Safari Versus National Park: What Each Category Allows

Pulling the threads together, the practical distinction comes down to use and management. A national park is the tightest category: TANAPA run, camera safaris only, no extraction of any kind. A game reserve is looser: managed by the Wildlife Division, open to licensed trophy hunting in designated blocks, and sometimes to photographic tourism as well. That is why the former Selous could split so cleanly, with the photographic north becoming Nyerere National Park and the hunting south keeping the reserve status and name.

Between those two poles sit the hybrids. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area layers grazing, settlement and tourism onto conservation land, while WMAs push ownership down to villages. For anyone booking, the label tells you most of what you need before you read a single itinerary. Park means photography. Reserve means check the fine print. Conservation area means shared land. WMA means community ground. Get the category right and the rest of the planning falls into place far more easily.

Getting to Tanzania’s Game Reserves for Your Safari

Access splits along the same lines as everything else. The photographic destinations are the easy ones. Nyerere National Park is reached by a short scheduled flight from Dar es Salaam, or a longer road transfer, and most southern circuit trips fly in to save a rough day on the tracks. The Grumeti, Ikorongo and Maswa reserves connect to the wider Serengeti circuit, usually via the Serengeti’s own airstrips and a vehicle transfer across the reserve boundary. Ngorongoro pairs naturally with Arusha and the northern parks, a couple of hours by road from the town.

The hunting reserves are deliberately hard to reach, often needing charter flights and long drives arranged by the outfitter holding the block, which is one reason they stay off the general tourism map. Most visitors never plan around them at all. For a first Tanzania safari, the sensible frame is to build the trip around the parks and the accessible reserves, then treat the wider reserve network as context that explains how the country protects such a large slice of its land.

Frequently Asked Questions About Game Reserves in Tanzania

What is the difference between a game reserve and a national park in Tanzania?

A national park is run by TANAPA and allows photographic safaris only, with no hunting, grazing or settlement. A game reserve is managed under the Wildlife Division and can permit regulated trophy hunting in licensed blocks, and sometimes photographic tourism too. The same land can shift categories, which is exactly what happened when the northern Selous became Nyerere National Park while the southern blocks stayed a reserve.

Is the Selous Game Reserve still open for safaris?

Partly. The photographic northern section is now Nyerere National Park and very much open for camera safaris, boat trips and game drives. The eastern portion that kept the Selous Game Reserve name is mostly split into hunting concessions and is not a general game viewing destination. If someone sells you a “Selous safari,” confirm whether they mean the park or the hunting blocks.

How much does a game reserve or national park safari in Tanzania cost?

Park entry to a photographic area like Nyerere currently runs in the region of 70 US dollars per adult per day for foreign non resident visitors, on top of camp and vehicle costs. A guided southern circuit fly in safari typically lands somewhere around 400 to 900 US dollars per person per day depending on the season and lodge tier, with luxury camps climbing well above that. Green season rates sit lower than the dry season peak. Always treat these as planning ranges rather than fixed quotes.

Can you go on a photographic safari in a hunting game reserve?

Usually not in a meaningful way. Most of the central and western reserves such as Rungwa, Ugalla and Kizigo are leased as hunting concessions with almost no photographic tourism infrastructure, and access is controlled by the outfitters. The reserves that welcome camera travellers are the ones run for photographic use, mainly Grumeti, Ikorongo and parts of Maswa, plus the former Selous land now inside Nyerere National Park.

Is the Ngorongoro Conservation Area a game reserve?

No, it is its own category. Ngorongoro is a multiple land use conservation area where wildlife, tourism and resident Maasai pastoralists share the land, the only arrangement of its kind in East Africa. It is not a hunting reserve and not a standard park either. A Ngorongoro safari centres on the crater floor, which holds one of the densest large mammal populations on the continent and a chance, never a promise, of seeing black rhino.

What is a Wildlife Management Area and why book a safari in one?

A Wildlife Management Area is village land that communities set aside for conservation, earning income from photographic and sometimes hunting tourism. Tanzania started with 16 pilot WMAs in 2003. Booking a lodge inside one channels safari money more directly to local people, and it supports a model that gives communities a reason to protect wildlife. Expect quieter, less predictable game viewing than a flagship park, with the conservation value as the main draw.