Migration in the Serengeti

The endless plains of east Africa are the setting for the world’s greatest wildlife spectacle – the 1.5 million animal ungulate (wildebeest) migration. From the vast Serengeti plains to the champagne colored hills of Kenya’s Masai Mara over 1.4 million wildebeest and 200,000 zebra and gazelle, relentlessly tracked by Africa’s great predators, migrate in a clockwise fashion over 1,800 miles each year in search of rain ripened grass.

There is no real beginning or end to a wildebeest’s journey. Its life is an endless pilgrimage, a constant search for food and water. The only beginning is at the moment of birth. An estimated 400,000 wildebeest calves are born during a six week period early each year – usually between late January and mid-March.  Their journey starts and ends in the Serengeti.

Their journey is endless and from July, 2012 herds poured into Nyamalumbwa in the northern Serengeti and there are still plenty of zebras and wildebeest around the Bolagonja area where the grass is high, the ground is wet, and there are some fires in the area.

As November ends the migration is making its way back to the southern Serengeti and early in the year they once again give birth. The circle of life is complete.

The migration is a natural event and the timing varies month by month; year by year.  This truly is a sight to behold.