Caption: Wildebeest concentration, Credit: Paula Kahumbu
Image by: Paula Kahumbu 
Wildebeest concentration 

Sounds of the Great Wilderbeest Migration in Mara Serengeti

From: Paula Kahumbu
Length: 00:05:08

Paula Kahumbu takes you to the Masai Mara to witness the spectacle of thousands of wildebeest plunging into the crocodile infested Mara river Over 1.3 million wildebeest and zebra have arrived in the Masai Mara having traveled across Tanzania's Serengeti National park to get here for the dry season grazing of the Mara plains. But the migration is at risk and may end in a few years. Find you why. Read the full description.

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These Wildebeest have trekked for hundreds of kilometers to get here from the Ngorongoro crater more than 300 km south. Their journey takes them across through the great Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania to the Masai Mara in Kenya.

 

They come to the Mara every year because this is their dry season refuge, where they will gorge on the sweet short grass and have their calves. But to get to there they have to cross the mighty Mara river where the young and weak will lose their lives.

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The wildebeest and zebras will stay in Kenya for only 3 or 4 months before starting on their return journey back to Tanzania. It’s a cycle that has gone on for millennia and we are very lucky to witness it every year. But in a few years time it could stop if the Tanzanians go ahead with a plan to construct a highway across the path of migrating wildebeest in the Serengeti.

 

It’s not too late to stop the project – join us in appealing to the Tanzanian authorities to Stop the Serengeti Highway.

Join Paula Kahumbu (WildlifeDirect) on Safari in the masai Mara to find out more about the migration and the threat that it faces from the proposed Serengeti Highway. If you want to sign a petition to stop the Serengeti Highway, or to see more photographs of the great migration, please check out our website at wildlifedirect.org

 

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Piece Description

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> It’s hard to fall in love with a Wildebeest. It's not exactly a handsome animal. Yet hundreds of thousands of people around the world visit Kenya and Tanzania to witness the last great Great Wildebeest migration which takes place between June and October each year.

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} -->

These Wildebeest have trekked for hundreds of kilometers to get here from the Ngorongoro crater more than 300 km south. Their journey takes them across through the great Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania to the Masai Mara in Kenya.

 

They come to the Mara every year because this is their dry season refuge, where they will gorge on the sweet short grass and have their calves. But to get to there they have to cross the mighty Mara river where the young and weak will lose their lives.

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The wildebeest and zebras will stay in Kenya for only 3 or 4 months before starting on their return journey back to Tanzania. It’s a cycle that has gone on for millennia and we are very lucky to witness it every year. But in a few years time it could stop if the Tanzanians go ahead with a plan to construct a highway across the path of migrating wildebeest in the Serengeti.

 

It’s not too late to stop the project – join us in appealing to the Tanzanian authorities to Stop the Serengeti Highway.

Join Paula Kahumbu (WildlifeDirect) on Safari in the masai Mara to find out more about the migration and the threat that it faces from the proposed Serengeti Highway. If you want to sign a petition to stop the Serengeti Highway, or to see more photographs of the great migration, please check out our website at wildlifedirect.org

 

Images

  • Wildebeest_crossing2small2_square
  • Hippo_migrationsmall2_square
  • Crocodile2small2_square
  • Wildebeest2small2_square
  • Tourists_migration2small2_square
  • Wildebeest_calfsmall2_square