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The Great Migration

The largest mass movement of land mammals on the planet, The Great Migration involves millions of wildebeest, as they follow an annual circular route around the Serengeti Ecosystem in an endless quest for fresh pastures and water.
Although the herds include many different herbivores, the big numbers are made by Wildebeest, Thomson's gazelle, and Zebra. February marks the start of this great migration, preceding the long rainy season, when wildebeest spend their time grazing and giving birth to approximately 500,000 calves within a 2/3-week period, which starts abruptly and is remarkably synchronized. Few calves are born ahead of time and Wildebeests running

of the few that are, hardly any will survive.
The animals set off when the Southern Serengeti plains have dried up and become increasingly worn out. June to July is a transitional period between the rains and the dry season.
As they concentrate on the few remaining green patches of savannah, these huge herds reform and push further North towards the Masai Mara resulting in a massing along the banks of the swollen Mara River and producing one of the world's truly most spectacular sights. Wildebeests resting

Between July and October the wildebeest reside in the Masai Mara, grazing the lush green grasses that the earlier rains encouraged.
October to November is when the short rains begin to fall in the South and East Serengeti, so the herds start to leave the Masai Mara, crossing the Mara River yet again and heading slowly back.
In all 250,000 wildebeest die during this 1,800-mile journey, the sick, the lame, old and very young, but the next calving will produce around 500,000 new calves who must take their chances along with the adults on the following 'Great Migration'.

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