The Great Maasai Mara Annual Migration of wildebeests of 2009 is on
The Annual migration of the animals from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania into Maasai Mara Game reserve in Kenya started early this year with the first group assembling along the famous River Mara in the first week of July, 2009. This migration is expected to be in the Maasai Mara as from July till first week of October when the first batch is expected to cross over the River Mara back into the Serengeti game park with the last migrants departing at the end of October, 2009. Victoria Safaris is making last minute bookings for late comers for this annual event dubbed тЂњThe New 7th Wonder of the WorldтЂќThis Great Annual Migration of Wildebeests (Gnu) is Africa"s greatest wildlife spectacle and the only one of the World"s most exceptional natural phenomena. The first Migration of wildebeests was observed -and documented- in the 60s by Dr. Grzimek, who first described a definite pattern in the migratory route.
The migration cycle is a 500 kilometer round trip from the northern edge of the Maasai Mara National Reserve to the Southern Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. The numbers are so large and the event is overwhelming as it moves around the Migration cycle. There are approximately 2 million individual wildebeests or thereabout that currently inhabit the Serengeti - Masai Mara ecosystem. As much as the leading and most notable animals are the Wildebeests(gnu), other animals in the migration include; Thomson"s Gazelle, Zebra, and Eland as they join the usual large resident populations of the Mara which include; Impala, African Buffalo, Topi, Kongoni, Giraffe, Warthog, Elephant, Waterbuck, and Grant"s Gazelle. These are followed by the most visible predators - Lions and Hyenas and the other predators, the likes of cheetahs, leopards, wild dogs, and jackals, all along their clockwise migratory route cycle. Despite the beauty of the event, not everyone is happy with this annual event. The Masai community who co exist with wildlife in the Maasai Mara have to rear their livestock in competition with the migrant herbivores which they regard as transmitters of animal diseases and guilty of poisoning the River Mara with their foetal sacs.
Victoria safaris is urging their clients" planning a photographic safari to the Masai Mara, to make sure that their trip coincides with the wildebeest migration (best between late July and September). You are most likely to see all the big 5 at the Maasai Mara this season.
(www.victoriasafaris.com)