Page 198 - The Miracle of Migration in Animals

THE MIRACLE OF MIGRATION IN ANIMALS

Wildebeest

For the wildebeest, life is a constant search for food and
water, and for this reason they migrate. Wildebeest travel north
from the Ngorongoro Crater Highlands in the east to the shores of
Lake Victoria in the west as far as the Mara country in Kenya. This
area of 30,000 square kilometers (11,600 square miles) is known as
the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. Their annual migrations in this
vast area cover 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles).
The wildebeest take routes similar to those they have taken
before, but every year their movements vary slightly. How long it
rains and at what time of the year has an effect on food availabil-

ity and hence, on the animals’ migration. At the start of the rainy
season in November or December, the wildebeest move from the
dry regions of the acacia woodlands in the north and west of the

196