Wildebeest migration boost to Mara

Nowhere else is nature’s balance better portrayed than in the Great Migration, for which the Maasai Mara is popular.

The wildebeest migration into and out of the Mara is the planet’s greatest animal migration. It is now ranked as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World.

Although Maasai Mara has other attractions such as the zebras and lions, it is the sound of deep, primal thundering of a grey approaching mass of hooves and deep grunts that really draws visitors there.

At its peak, the Kenyan side is littered with rows upon rows of tour vans with open roofs and tourists spotting cameras and binoculars to make sure they do not miss the moments. Some choose an aerial view from one of the hot air balloon rides available in the Mara.

Every year, more than 1.3 million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra, 350,000 Thompson’s gazelle and 12,000 eland migrate in a clockwise fashion, clocking nearly 2,000 miles each year in the hunt for the sweet green grass.

They cover the expanse that is the Mara and the Serengeti ecosystems, with no respect for national borders as they follow the same path their ancestors followed thousands of years ago.

The wildebeests, zebras, and elands will move in the North/South direction and then back, while the Thompson and Grant’s gazelles never cross into Kenya because they move in the East/West direction.

Expanding herd

The Great Migration has no end and no start; it is an endless cycle that begins with the birth of an estimated 500, 000 wildebeest calves in the Serengeti National Park’s Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

The calving season lasts from January to mid-March.

During this time, the wildebeests gather from different parts of the park and slowly mass into one mammoth, ever-expanding herd.

The calving season is nature’s way of replenishing the herds as the migration season height is fraught with many risks.

As the animals move towards the Mara and back, they face countless dangers from other animals, hunger, exhaustion, and the harsh environment.

It is the epitome of Darwinian logic where only the strong and lucky will survive.

Most of the half a million calves will not survive because hyenas specifically pick them out, and the physical strain of the long journey will eventually claim thousands of young victims.

Kenyan and Tanzanian tour operators tend to market the migration as a country-exclusive phenomenon to attract more tourists; the migration is, in truth, a symbiosis between the two countries.

The rivalry over the migration trumps Kilimanjaro’s bragging rights since the greater part of the migration, including the majority of the Mara River, are all in Tanzania but the Kenyan side has marketed its small portion more effectively.

Tour operator

“It makes for a wonderful phenomenon because it is all year round,” says Roy Muriuki, a Kenyan tour operator.

“It is not seasonal in essence because it just depends on where you catch it.

If Kenya is not making money from it, then Tanzania is or should be.”

As the herd grows from new migrants and newborn calves, predators all along the migration path begin to sense the feast that is just about to walk right into their lairs.

It is not just the predators, ‘‘migration chasers’’ or animal enthusiasts and wildlife conservation personnel also follow the migration to document and protect the animals, and their traditional hunt for green grass.

There are numerous campsites where one can live in and most established tour operators now offer a full package option for real enthusiasts.

In late July and August, herds are to be found along Mara River, a final barrier to the short sweet grasses of the Masai Mara.

Crossing the raging river is perhaps the most challenging part of the journey because the river is full of crocodiles, and big cats tend to hunt near the water where even the strong animals must funnel through the shallow parts to cross successfully.

The Great Migration is nature’s blessing to these predators along the migration line.

According to the Maasai Mara website, the national park has one of the largest densities of lions in the world.

There is a popular anecdote that the herd grows stronger as the predators weed out the weaker members of the herd.

The crossing is also a highlight for tourists because the herd is at its most scenic, and it is here that you can watch Mother Nature perform her balancing act.

The same rains that have made the Mara so green have also filled the Mara, and finding anywhere to cross without being carried away by the current is almost impossible for the millions of wildebeests.

Crocodiles feast

Most of the herd will survive but the crocodiles, lions, cheetahs, and hyenas will feast upon many of the weaker and a few unfortunate stronger members.

The land predators thrive in the crowding at the banks of the river while the crocodiles hunt in the water but sometimes venture out and return to the water with a thrashing, unfortunate victim.

Occasionally, the herd will trample upon a predator in panic as they try to escape the same misfortune, rescuing the would-be dinner in the process.

The lucky ones finally make it to the green pastures of the Mara and for the next three months, eat everything away as their dung fertilizes the soil for the next season.

In November, the remaining herd, which has survived hunger, exhaustion, drowning, and predation moves southward as the green grass expanse dwindles.

The migration then makes its way back way back to Southern Serengeti where the grazing fields are at their greenest at that time, and in the following months, they begin to calve again.

The Migration creates a second hot season for the Kenyan tourism sector around July to October. Without it, the tourism sector would struggle through the months in preparation for the December boom. Muriuki says,

“Every tour operator in the business knows the resilience of Mara as a destination. It is popular, and its cyclic nature means that it is sure to happen as long as the migration path remains open.”

“The high competition is driving the safari prices down as tour operators compete for tourists.

Most of them will turn to local tourists to capitalize on the expanding middle class and its vast potential for the market,” notes an industry observer.

Since the wildebeest migration is a natural event and thus subject to nature’s whims, no single year is ever the same.

Human interference in the migration path, for example, has the potential to force the migration to adapt to new migration paths, much to their detriment.

Every visit to the Mara is thus a new visit for the safari enthusiast, and even for the tour operators who have seen it numerous times before.

One reviewer described it as ‘…second to none’, an apt description given that there is nowhere else in the world where you can watch million of animals move in a huge herd instinctively searching for grazing fields.