ULTIMATE AFRICA SAFARIS
Wildebeest Migration
Update! Good rains have turned the dry landscapes of northern Tanzania a lovely shade of green. The southern plains of the Serengeti are teeming with wildlife – the largest gathering of wildebeest, zebras, gazelles and other antelopes of the last few years. The calving season began the second week of February, giving traveler’s excellent opportunities to observe and photograph the arrival of the new life. The plains were filled with tiny Thomson’s gazelles, playful Zebra foals and thousands of light chestnut colored wildebeests struggling to keep apace with their mothers. At Ngorongoro Crater the numbers of a biting Stomoxys flies have increased. Their bites have led to many animals suffering from painful sores. The lions have been most affected by this epidemic and 6 out of 68 in the crater have died. This situation is not new in the Ngorongoro Crater. A similar epidemic occurred in 1962 after the extensive drought of 1961, followed by heavy rains, that brought an explosion of Stomoxys flies who decimated the crater’s lion population. Similar outbreaks were also known at the Simanjiro Plains in 1997 /98 after El Niño rains. The number of predator sightings in the Serengeti has been incredible. With some many animals in one area the odds of observing the predators in action have increased dramatically. One recent day clients at Shifting Sands, the drifting dunes close to Olduvai Gorge, watched a solitary cheetah capture a baby Thomson’s gazelle, while its mother was able to run away to a safe distance. Amazingly, after playing with the young gazelle for several minutes, the gazelle was released unharmed. Apparently the cheetah was actually interested in the mother and kept waiting for it to come and try to rescue her baby. The mother had observed the situation from a safe distance deciding not to risk moving in. Fortunately for her the cheetah gave up! In another area clients watched as a newborn wildebeest tried to suckle a hyena! The hyena simply nudged it aside with its nose and eventually the baby walked off looking forlorn and hoping to find mum somewhere. Back to The Wildebeest Migration Made Simple Links to other pages: ULTIMATE AFRICA
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