June-July is a time when the majority of wildlife and nature loving Tourists who are visiting East Africa all head to the Masai Mara to behold the sight of what has been dubbed one of the New Seven Wonders of the world! It’s the story of a year long wandering of the renowned Wildebeest that reaches its climax during this time, 1800km of journey in a span of 12 months that would claim 250,000 casualties but this being balanced by an estimated 500,000 births. Indeed nature has seen to it’s conservation status being categorized as of “Least concern”. The Wildebeest has been described in appearance as mix of different animals because the head(face & horns) looks like a Buffalo’s, the meaty back like a Rhino’s, the rear view makes it look like Warthog, the legs which are not proportional to its body may easily pass for an Antelop’s and lastly it has the tail of a Horse! When fully grown they measure between 120-150 cm and weigh between 160-270 kgs but the male tends to be heavier than the female.
The movement of these animals can be divided into 4 phases as they trek clockwise between Kenya and Tanzania with the story beginning at the start of the year from late January to late March(phase 1)- this being the Calving periods. The Ngorongoro Conservation area could be considered the birth place of every single one of them as it is a ritual that takes place every year, after carrying the pregnancy for about 8 and half months the expectant cows would go into labour which would last between 30-50 mins. They would give birth standing at around mid day when the predators would be hiding away under a shade from the heat of the equatorial sun. The new born usually gets up within 3-5 mins and after suckling for half an hour its able to run and keep up with the rest of the herds, in 10 days it will be eating grass! The Wildebeest has a strong sense of smell such that the young when lost and this would be repeated many times in the coming months, it would effectively identify the mother in the midst of hundreds of thousands, the female is equally, aggressively protective i.e can never suckle another’s calve even if it has lost its own. Lactation however usually takes up to 1 year with the survival rate of the young ones known to be higher in the ones in larger herds.
The Second Phase which is March- May will see the over 2 million herd move to the west and northwards towards the west of the Serengeti, by now lush with long green grass courtesy of their manure left behind a year ago and the long rains. Here they join by about 500,000 Zebras and 100,000 gazelles, the former who does them a favour by mowing down the long grass that would be a challenge to the wildebeest because of their blunt muzzle and wide incisors then the Gazelles would mop up what is left. This calculated pattern of assault on the plains of the Serengeti would see grass depleted thus the movement northwards would continue as another group of the herds go further west only to later converge at the banks of the Mara River. The ending of the rainy season usually ushers in the mating period, this is the time when the males who mature at age 5 are most aggressive, known to be very territorial they mark their space with heaps of dung, gland secretions and pawing of the earth. Body language like erect posture, loud grants, bellowing and forward thrusting of horn are used to drive the point home, a territory would be between 1-2 hactares. This is followed by courtship where the male entices the female by rubbing its preorbital gland on a tree and then go on to destructively horn the same tree because it has to always be on the look out for predators, its mating ritual is not elaborate or long. A female wildebeest may be mounted by several males and tend to move from one territory to another, this period would take 3-4 weeks from around April to early May a time when they are most active and this combined with the trekking leaves them exhausted as they surge north towards the Mara.
There is no better time to visit the Maasai Mara than in June-July period, regarded as the climax of the great migration, when visitors to the Game Reserve behold the sight of millions of Wildebeest, Zebra and Gazelles as they converge at the banks of the Mara River. The sound of the approaching animal would be deep with the rumbling of their thundering hooves and low grants leaving a lasting memory in the minds of any who witnesses and experiences this. Exhausted and thirsty after having trekked for months the young and the old find this next phase the hardest, crossing the crocodile infested river which sometimes may be flooded and at some points very steep. What would follow is stampede as tens of thousands of the herds surge forward into the river to cross over, crocodiles would freely attack them and strong water currents would sweep away the weak, the after math is the sight of carcasses littering the banks vultures and hyenas feasting. This spectacle is best experience in early morning drives on customized vehicles, with Maasai Warrior guides, on horse back safaris or by a Hot air Balloon Safaris.
After making it across the Mara River the herds would spend the next 2-3 months in the Game reserve spread out as far as the eye can see enjoying the long green grass of the plains but its never all joy as in the Mara you have the highest concentration of Africa’s predators, in the Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, the Hyena and African wild dog which would attack the large pack easily almost at will because of their sheer number. The latter two would weave into the herds separating the young and the weak and attack their prey. As the stay of the Wildebeest would be coming to an end in the Mara in September/October the journey southwards begins, and they would have to cross the Mara River again, this some of them may do back and forth several times as the short rains in the North confuses them but eventually they start moving steadily South east towards the Ngorongoro conservation where the journey began, which by the time they get to has been replenished. Indeed this Migration is a story of Nature mixing up regeneration with sustenance, abundance and scarcity, life and death.
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