The "Great Migration" arrives in Kenya

The annual Great Migration of wildebeest from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania has arrived in the greener pastures of the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.
The circular migration, driven by the rain and the new grass that follows it, usually starts around end of May/early June in the Serengeti National Park when the first animals start moving to the areas around the Grumeti River. By end of June, the animals are moving further northwards, so that they arrive the Maasai Mara National Reserve via the Mara River by the end of July/early August. In early November, with the start of the short rains, the migration starts moving south to the Serengeti National Park again, usually arriving there in December in plenty of time for calving in February.

The Great Migration is one of the most impressive natural events worldwide, involving some 1,300,000 wildebeest, 500,000 Thomson's gazelles, 100,000 topi, 20,000 elands, and abhout 200,000 zebras.

Wildlife video: Two cheetahs vs. one wildebeest

Shot during the annual "Great Migration" in Kenya & Tanzania, the following video shows how two young male cheetahs are taking down prey much larger than themselves - a wildebeest. Cheetahs are usually solitary creatures living a nomadic lifestyle, but sometimes young male cheetahs, especially litter mates, team up with another cheetah to maintain their territory. Impressive! Kudos National Geographic!

Tanzania/Kenya: Migration into the Masai Mara has started

The greatest annual migration of wildlife has begun. According to several blogs from East Africa and referring to eye witnesses, zebras and wildebeests have started crossing the Mara River on their 500km way from the Southern Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to the northern edge of the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.



The annual migration lasts normally from June or July and lasts until as late as October or even November. During the so-called "Great Migration" around 2.5 million animals migrate north from the Serengeti plains in search of fresh pasture, before they return to the south four to five month later.

Serengeti Highway: Tanzania risks spot on the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has expressed its utmost concern about the proposed highway in the northern wilderness area of the Serengeti National Park during the 34th Session of the World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia, Brasil.

Along with the expressed concern, the World Heritage Committee has also asked Tanzania to consider one of the feasible and less environmentally damaging alternatives to the road. In terms of potential environmental deterioration, the damage to the park by the north road could be severe enough as to prompt inscription of the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger. [src.]

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee will now send a monitoring mission to Tanzania to discuss alternatives with the authorities as well as to asses the potential threads caused through the highway.

Serengeti National Park with responsibletravel.com >>
World Heritage Sites in Southern Africa >>

Stop the Serengeti Highway! Pls spread the word!

It's the greatest threat in the Serengeti's history — the government of Tanzania has approved a major commercial highway across the Serengeti National Park, in the direct path of ancient wildlife migration routes. Such a highway would be devastating.



Please visit www.savetheserengeti.org, sign the petition and spread the word to stop the Tanzanian government from building the highway! Thx a ton!

Pls also watch this - Tony Sinclair and Kristine Metzger (Biodiversity Research Centre - University of British Columbia, Canada) have put together a short presentation regarding the challenges of constructing a major highway through the northern part of the Serengeti National Park. Thank you to them both. It is an imperative to watch, due to the sensitivity surrounding this prestigious World Heritage Site.

Serengeti National Park with responsibletravel.com >>