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Now we’ve certainly seen a blast of winter here over the Easter weekend which we’re hoping hasn’t impeded the small birds migrating to our shores. They certainly didn’t come all that way for this weather! We often assume that migration revolves around favourable weather and for those birds it does, but in fact there are many different reasons to migrate. For example in countries with wet and dry seasons an animal must be constantly on the move following the rains for fresh grass. The most famous is surely the Wildebeest.
The largest number of animals migrating takes place between the Masai Mara in the bottom south western corner of Kenya and down in a south easterly, then south-westerly direction down and across the Serengeti in Tanzania. While the number of animals taking part in this continual circling migration is vast, the distance they actually cover isn’t. It's only about 150 miles - the distance between Sheffield and London. Nevertheless, the sheer size of the migration is overwhelming. A few days ago the column of Wildebeest stretched back for 30 km.
What attracts them to this area? Quite simply, it's the weather. Where there is rain there is grass and the Wildebeest rely on the nutrients in fresh grass to produce milk for their calves. Wildebeest are therefore constantly on the move, following the rains, in their struggle for survival.
Peter Bassett is a producer with the BBC Natural History Unit and is currently on a filming a pride of Lions that are themselves shadowing the herds of migrating Wildebeest for a new series called Life, which will be aired in 2009.
Further Reading:
Next Wildebeest report: Simon King on the Masai Mara
Peter Bassett's next report: The Great Flooding of the Okavango Delta