Page 201 - The Miracle of Migration in Animals

HARUN YAHYA

river. Sometimes they choose
highly dangerous points and fall off
cliffs or struggle to get through
seemingly impossible mud flats.
Some drown. Older, more experi-
enced ones use places where they
have crossed before, and the young
follow them.
Whatever incites the animals
to make this crossing—sometimes,
purely because they want to drink
water—once they have started,
nothing can stop them. If motor ve-
hicles or predators try to block their
way, they cross at a different point,
and have been known to reach the
river through the forest.

Towards the end of September
or October, wildebeest in the Mara
region start returning to the
Serengeti. The rains have started,
and the herds move further south,
following the rain. If the rain stops,
they wait at the edge of the wood-

Towards May, plains in the Serengeti dry
out, the grass withers, and the wildebeest
start migrating north to the plains where
long grass is more plentiful. Some years,
more than a million wildebeest cross the
Mara River to reach the Masai Mara reserve
in Kenya on the other side.

199