The blue wildebeest undertakes one of the world’s largest land migrations across the Serengeti and Maasai Mara.
Each year, huge herds move through Tanzania’s Serengeti ecosystem and Kenya’s Maasai Mara in search of fresh grass and water. The route is not a simple one-way journey: the animals circulate through a broad seasonal landscape, responding to rainfall and the growth of new vegetation.
The migration includes hundreds of thousands of blue wildebeest, along with large numbers of plains zebras and several gazelle species. Calving commonly peaks in the southern Serengeti during the wet season, when nutritious grass is available for mothers and newborns.
The crossing of rivers can be dramatic, but it is only one part of the migration. Crocodiles, lions, hyenas and other predators take advantage of the moving herds. The species is called “blue” because of its bluish-gray coat, not because it is actually blue.