The 1.3 million strong wildebeest herd of Tanzania and Kenya trace a clockwise circuit of East Africa's great grassland plains, following the rain and the ripening grasses. Burchelli's Zebras infiltrate the black mass, perhaps seeking protection amid the numbers, while other hoofed species join the migration on its fringes, a colorful carnival of herbivores trudging, lurching, and leaping across the grasslands and woodlands. Africa's great predators are never far away from the menagerie.
The trek begins in the south, after the wildebeest birthing season in February. The herd moves northwest, chasing rain and abundance, arriving at the northern end of the circuit in the Mara Triangle in July or August. Predicting where the wildebeest will be with any precision is impossible, but, generally, the migration follows a regular pattern, although one ultimately dictated by the vagaries of wind, sun, and rain.
Southern Serengeti/Ngorongoro
Late December to Early April
Scattered across the plains of the Southern Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania, the herds recuperate from the migration of the previous year, birth foals, and gather strength for the upcoming migration north.
Western Corridor
April to Late June
The southern plains begin to dry up in April, and the animals move to the northwest, chasing the rain and the forage. The scattered herds eventually form into columns that stretch through the wooded grasslands.
Mara Triangle
Late June to October
Eventually the grasses of the Western Corridor dry and wither just as the grasses in the south dried and withered. The herd turns its snout north again, making a second river crossing – at the Mara River – and enters Kenya and the Maasai Mara Reserve.
Eastern Serengeti/Ngorongoro
October to December
The return takes the herd along the border of the Serengeti Reserve and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area until eventually they arrive back where they began. Only one in three of the calves born the previous season will have survived to see the southern Serengeti again.
