Reporting Date: 14TH APRIL 2012

WILDEBEESTS MIGRATION UPDATE.

After giving birth in their ancestral calving lands of southern Serengeti in the months of February and march,  the wildebeests have started their long and winding trek towards the northern parts in search of grazing lands and water. They started the trek as one large group but shortly thereafter split into three major divisions which will eventually end up in the Mara game reserve in Kenya  as from the months of June  or July onwards.

The first group is moving towards the western corridor of the Serengeti  which is not far from  lake Victoria, this group will after sometime shift  their course towards the North-east after venturing into the Ikorongo game reserve adjacent  to the Serengeti.

The second group of the wildebeests is moving towards the central parts of the Serengeti after leaving behind the Simba Kopjes. This group is likely to either  team up with the first group or follow them towards the western corridor into the Ikorongo game reserve, a place with black cotton soil and poor drainage.  Here a good number of them could fall prey to the crocodiles of the Grumeti river, especially the young and inexperienced first year migrants.

The third group decided to follow the boundaries of the park  on the east  towards the Loliondo game controlled area. It is this group that we expect to be the first to arrive along the sand river on the border between the Serengeti and the Mara around the month of June as they seem to have taken a more direct route.  It is also at this time that we expect to start seeing these "nomads" of the grasslands in the area around the camp.  In between these large groups are to be found some tail-pullers who walk in small groups long after the rest have moved on.

There is plenty of green grass almost everywhere for this animals at this time of the year after we had some rains in the past few days but the surface waters in most places can’t last long, hence  the reason why these animals keep moving.

NB: * = Same animals seen by different rangers