Serengeti - tips by travel authority Howard Hillman

Serengeti Migration

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Why the
Serengeti migration
is special

The Serengeti Migration in Tanzania and Kenya is known as the greatest animal show on earth. I've seen the moving migrating wild animals blanketing the African landscape as far as my eye could see.

The Serengeti
migration route

Animated map

The migrating herds move in a circular route in a clockwise direction.

When does the
migration occur?

As my Serengeti Migration map illustrates, the migration is annual and peaks in different areas at different times.

Why does it occur?

Animals migrate because of rain or the lack of it. When a seasonal drought dries up grass and water supplies in one area, the grazing animals move on to the next area along the Serengeti migration route where seasonal rains are falling.

The major
migrating animals

Number of animals

Over a million wildebeests participate in the Serengeti Migration. Hundreds of thousands of zebra and Thomson's gazelles join them.

Predators

Although lions and other carnivores do not migrate with the grazing animals, they feast on them when their paths cross.

Serengeti Ecosystem

The Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is part of the vast Serengeti ecosystem. It also embraces the Masai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya and part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania.

Migrating animals spend more time in the Serengeti National Park than in the Masai Mara and Ngorongoro Conservation Area during their annual circular journey.