Every year between the months of July to October, over 1 million wildebeests, 200,000 gazelles and about 400, zebras make their ways from the Serengeti National park in Tanzania to the Masai Mara National reserve in Kenya. It’s a question everyone asks, why such large numbers of wildlife would move from one park to another.
The months of July to October are dry months and the grass in Serengeti national park will dry up and therefore these animals will cross to the Masai Mara National Game reserve to look for greener pastures and survive the long drought. The Animals will trek over 1500 miles just to escape the dry season but they return in the wet season to calve from the Serengeti National Park.
The Great Migration is the largest overland migration in the world
There are over 1.5 million wildebeests, 400, 000 zebras and 200,000 gazelles that migrate from the Serengeti National Park to the Masai Mara National reserve.
Wildebeest calves are able to walk as soon as they are born
The wildebeests move to the plains f the Serengeti National park to calve during the rainy season. Over 500,000 wildebeest are born every season. The baby wildebeests are able to walk right way at birth.
The Great Wildebeest Migration is the longest overland migration in the world
During the great migration, the animals walk over 800 kilometers from the Serengeti national park to the Masai Mara National park.
Not all of the herd follows the same path
The wildebeest do not take the same directions during the migration. They take very many directions but all move towards the Masai Mara. They don’t have leaders within the herds and therefore they just follow any paths that come easy to them.
Wildebeest seem to be more intelligent than they appear
The fact that they can travel over 800 kilometers over two countries and then come back is a very great sense of understanding.
Though migration companions, wildebeest and zebra don’t eat the same thing
The Zebras eat the taller grass while the wildebeests eat the shorter grass. Even the type of vegetation they eat is also different. They however graze together in Harmony.
The Great Migration is a natural phenomenon that only started in the 1960s
One would think that this migration has happened for a while but it’s actually begun in the 1960s at the weather conditions begun to chance and begun to become harsh.
The Great Migration experiences the circle of life
There are over about 250,000 wildebeests that die as they make their way to the Masai Mara National park from the Serengeti national park. Some are eaten by predators, other are drowned in the river while others die of natural causes.
Where the wildebeest go, lions follow
The Serengeti National park has over 2000 predators and they follow the wildebeests as they migrate to the Masai Mara.
River crossings can be dangerous
The Nile crocodiles awaiting the herds in the Mara River are deadly predators. They drown their prey by clutching them in their strong jaws and pulling them below the water, twisting them to break off bite-size pieces.
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