The Wildebeest are a Keystone species mostly known for one of the Greatest Migrations in the animal kingdom. Millions of them travel from the Southern Serengeti Plains in Tanzania to Kenya’s Masai Mara and back.
This annual migration northwest is recognized as one of the “Seven Wonders of the Natural World.”
A general pattern of the migration is as follows:-
- In late November and December, the wildebeest migration herds arrive on the short-grass plains of the south and east of Seronera Serengeti area around Ndutu and include the north of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
- The wildebeest and zebra stay around the Ndutu and Ngorongoro conservation plains through January, February and March, with most wildebeest calves born in a short window around Gradually they spread west across these plains.
- Around April they start their great migration north.
- By May the Serengeti’s wildebeest all seem to be moving north, migrating to seek fresh grazing and water in the Moru Kopjes area and west Serengeti.
- In June they congregate around the Western Corridor of the Serengeti.
- In July and August they move northwards into the Masai Mara in Kenya where epic river crossings may be witnessed.
- September sees the herds spread out across the northern Serengeti, where the Mara River gushes through the northern Serengeti from Kenya’s adjacent Masai Mara Game Reserve offering more spectacular scenes of great panic and confusion at river crossings.
- By October the wildebeest herds are migrating again with more accord: all are heading south, through western Loliondo and the Serengeti National Park’s Lobo area, returning to the green shoots which follow the rains on the short-grass plains of the southern Serengeti in Then the whole process starts again…
Fun facts: Did you know that a wildebeest can reach top speeds of 80Km/h?
Be sure to witness this great spectacle of Nature at its best with us this season…