In the world's largest wildlife reserve masai mara, the most spectacular natural wonder in the world is the world-famous animal migration every year. At that time, millions of wildebeests, hundreds of thousands of zebras, antelope , and tens of millions of flamingos will form a huge team, and go from the Serengeti Reserve in Tanzania to the south to the Serengeti Reserve in Kenya to the Masai Mara National Park . They escaped the big crocodile in the swamp area, the ferocious lions and leopards hidden deep in the grass, and continued to cross the border with the Yokogawa River and enter the new world in the north.
East Africa animal migration diagram
1. When did the great migration happen?
In the minds of most people, the migration of animals seems to be a matter of crossing a river. There is no way, the "crossing of the Kingdom of Heaven" is too famous, and it invisibly shaped the concept of "crossing the river = migrating". But in fact, "The Ferry of Heaven" (also known as the Ferry of Heaven") is just a small part of the great migration process, which takes place in July and August every year. The great migration of animals is not just a matter of two or three months, but a lifelong career. As long as they are still alive, they will always walk on the road, starting from birth and ending from death. They are real wanderers. Of course, the animals are moving on the East African savannah , but this grassland is very large and divided into two pieces by the border between Tanzania and Kenya: the small one is in Kenya, called the Masai Mara Grassland; the large one is in Tanzania, called the Serengeti Grassland. They travel between these two grasslands, circle the entire grassland, and it takes about a year to walk, about 6,000 kilometers.
2. Why do animals migrate?
East African savanna has a savanna climate, no distinction between spring, summer, autumn and winter, only dry season and rainy season.
Dry season means no precipitation → no grass grows → no food; rainy season is the most beautiful time, which means abundant precipitation and sufficient food. The precipitation belt on the prairie moves from south to north, starting from the south of , Serengeti , and ending here as soon as possible. So the animals headed north and by the end of the rainy season in Serengeti, they had already walked to the north, and just caught the tail of the rainy season of Masai Mara.
Another reason is to "eat". The number of foodies in this group is too large and eat a lot. The growth rate of grass is far from keeping up with the speed of consumption. They have to eat one place and change another. If they don't move, they will sit and starve to death.
Due to the above two reasons, coupled with the long river of history, animals have been constantly practicing and changing, and finally formed a circular route that rotates clockwise in today's direction.
3. Who is the protagonist of the Great Migration?
The main migrations are wildebeests, zebras, and gazelle . There are more than 2 million animals in total. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like more than 2 million animals are rushing around, but a major stampede accident will occur! They are all good kids who are orderly and polite, and will migrate in batches in an organized manner. The large groups of similar animals will be divided into several small groups, coming one by one, and then walking one by one.
. Due to the differences in habits, different types of animals will also come first and then come.
The zebra is the leader. These guys like to eat the grass tip. In order to eat the grass that has not been stained by other herbivores, they are usually the first to set out.
The wildebeest is sandwiched in the middle. After the zebra finished eating the grass, the short, tender and juicy oat grass was left to the wildebeest. They are "prairie harvesters" and they will not stop until they are plundered.
The gazelle is pressing the array. These guys are the ones who enjoy the most. They can have the tender grass that grows again. It seems that it is not completely correct to start first and suffer later!
For carnivores, they will not migrate with the grazing animals, they are just waiting on their necessary path.
Lion , they are the king of the grassland, and their success rate in hunting during cooperation is much higher than that of other cats. Generally, lionesses are responsible for preying, and it is common for 3 or 4 to join forces to capture a young and strong wildebeest.
Hyna , they are grassland rogues, with amazing endurance and bite strength. If they are targeted by a group of hyenas, the ending can only be a tragedy.
Leopard , they move quickly, and sometimes they can easily catch food that even the lions can't catch up with.
So zebras and wildebeests are actually very hard-working. They don’t just rush to go, but they also have to beware of natural enemies at any time. It’s really heart-wrenching .
4. Watch the Great Migration Guide
(I) Time: January-March; Location: Southeast of Serengeti; Season: Rainy Season.
At this time, the animals move the slowest, mainly because it is in the rainy season, will not worry about eating and drinking. The Serengeti can fully support the consumption of the huge herbivorous family. They will use this time to recuperate and prepare for the next long journey.
At this time, friends who want to see animals will of course come to Serengeti in Tanzania. You can see that the wildebeest herd is no longer in a vast state, but is active in the state of small family , with a number of about 10. They wander around the grassland and have children, and freely move . When it comes to and in March, wildebeests were born in groups. You can see the scene of wildebeests giving birth to here.
Newborn baby wildebeests will struggle to get up. This is a compulsory course in their life. As the offspring of a wildebeest, you must stand up and run within within 110 minutes. God knows how many lions, leopards and hyenas are hiding around the grass. For many small herbivorous animals, birth of means death.
lion preys on the little wildebeest
wildebeest fertile is a big thing on the grassland: the reproduction of species, the tenacity and fragility of life, the greatness of maternal love, and the unity of the family to defend against the enemy took turns to take place. During this period, various life dramas were concentrated.
wildebeests to protect their families, chasing hyena
(II) Time: April to June; Location: western Serengeti; Season: Long rainfall lasts from March to the end of May
At this time, wildebeests, zebras, gazelle, etc. on the prairie have ended their scattered days and ended their lives in small groups, forming a large camp of hundreds of thousands or even millions of , and officially began the serious and difficult trekking . Form groups is to help each other and defend against foreign enemies together.
At this time, you come to Serengeti in Tanzania, and you can easily see the huge herd of wildebeests.
Wildebeests walk about 0 kilometers . Some old, weak, sick and disabled people are a little overwhelmed, and smart hyenas fight fatigue and . If they relax a little, they will be chased out of the team, fall into a trap, and be divided by more than a dozen hyenas with saliva.
(III) Time: July-September; Location: Masai Mara Grassland; Season: dry season
At this time, most of the migratory troops have arrived at Masai Mara , the legendary world-class wonder - "Ferry of Heaven" will be staged in Kenya's territory in Mara River . Crossing the Mara River is their annual life and death disaster . The wildebeests have to face Nile crocodile bloody mouth, hyena relentless pursuit, and lion ambush. But the wildebeest herd was prepared.
The vast herd of wildebeests often take the head and tail with male wildebeests who are in their prime and powerful. They are so powerful that they can kill a hyena and kick a lion to death. Their river crossing process organized and disciplined , which is a perfect escape!
Every time the leader of the wildebeests have great Responsibility and Dedication . They first check the enemy situation on the shore to see if there are any ambushings of lions, and then muster up the courage to jump down, jump into the river , and escape the death of the crocodile and get ashore. This is half of the success! Because those who have crossed the river will release air on the other side, they will also greatly encourage to the large troops waiting and watching behind . After
, the "Ferry of the Sky" officially began! Tens of thousands of wildebeests and zebras will be thrown into the arms of the Mara River!
Young and middle-aged people will choose a dangerous location first cross the river to attract the attention of crocodiles, and cover the elderly, weak, sick and disabled in the middle of the army so that they can cross the river from the relatively safe , and then end with the young and middle-aged wildebeests, which can reduce many casualties.
Every summer, the Mara River is always crowded with off-road vehicles, and people from all over the world gather here to watch this event .
The river water is fast and the animals are fierce. By accident, the dim river water becomes red and bright blood water .
"Crossing the river" continues in these three months, continues one after another, and there are endless streams of . After
, migrants will cross the Masai Mara grassland and search the delicious on the grassland . However, because the Masai Mara is too small, it is one tenth of the Serengeti . The food on the horses can't support the consumption of more than two million animals, so they will stay here for a few months and set out towards the Serengeti to the south.
(IV) Time: October-December; Location: Northeast of Serengeti; Season: The rainy season in Serengeti is coming
At this time, the grass in the Masai Mara has almost been eaten up. Migrants return to Serengeti, Tanzania, means that this massive migration is about to end , and Serengeti will usher in a rainy season. They are exhausted physically and mentally and finally can relax their pace a little. green Serengeti prairie is the best reward for that they have received after running around for a year.
But as for wildebeests, in the end, only 0% lucky ones can return to their original place, and what comes back is hundreds of thousands of heads in the belly of female wildebeests . The journey continues, continues to grow .
