The Serengeti Migration

The Wildebeest Migration is a dramatic story. It takes place within Kenya and Tanzania and is the greatest wildlife show on earth. Between the open plains of the Serengeti and the Masai Mara, thousands of wildebeest and zebras migrate to greener pastures as the seasons change and the circle of life and death continues. Predators follow the Wildebeest Migration closely, waiting for an opportunity to strike weak prey as they make their way into different territories.

The Serengeti hosts the largest and longest overland migration in the world, one of the ten natural travel wonders of the world. Nearly 2 million herbivores travel the 'Circular Migration' every year, and 250,000 wildebeest alone will die during the journey from Tanzania to Masai Mara. Most are familiar with the pictures showing thousands of wildebeest crashing down to cross a river, filled with crocodiles waiting for a feast. For the animals involved, its life is an endless pilgrimage, a constant search for food and water.

The wildebeest spent the rainy season from December to June in the volcanic open plains below the Ngorongoro Crater where the grass growth is most productive and nutrient contents high. It is here that the calves are born. Calving season is short and the predators cannot make a dent in the new-borns with such a sudden surge of food. When the monsoon rains stop in June, the plains dry out and the wildebeest move west towards Lake Victoria in search of pasture and rains. The plains become a harsh and dry semi-desert in which no wildebeest could survive. Only through migration can the wildebeest and zebra use the widespread resources of the ecosystem and build up such large numbers. Following the rainfalls the migration moves on to the north, into the Masai Mara, where the rift wall catches the last rains even in the middle of the dry season. With the onset of the monsoon rains in December the wildebeest move back into the lush Serengeti plains.