The wildebeest migration safari is a dramatic story. Wildebeest migration safari takes place within Kenya and Tanzania and is the greatest wildlife show on earth. Between the open plains of the Serengeti and the Masai Mara, thousands of wildebeest and zebras migrate to greener pastures as the seasons change and the circle of life and death continues. Predators follow the Wildebeest Migration closely, waiting for an opportunity to strike weak prey as they make their way into different territories.
Each year around the same time the ‘Great wildebeest migration safari’ begins in the Ngorongoro area of the southern Serengeti of Tanzania. A natural phenomenon determined by the availability of grazing. It is January to March when the calving season begins.
February marks the start of this great wildebeest migration safari, proceeding 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; the few that are as much as 6 months out of phase, hardly any will survive. (Estes 1992) The main reason for this being that very young calves are more noticeable to predators when mixed with older calves from earlier in the previous year, and so are easier preys. The calving grounds of the eastern Serengeti happen to be outside the hunting territories of most of the predators, such as hyena, cheetah, hunting dogs and lions although some losses to these predators can occur. Wildebeest cows do not seek isolation during calving or afterwards.
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