Serengeti Migration

The Great Migration is the continuous circular movement of approximately 1.5 million wildebeest, 200,000 zebras, and 300,000 gazelles across the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem in Tanzania and Kenya. Following the rains and new grass growth, the herds travel a circuit of 1,000 km across the Serengeti Plains, through the Grumeti River, and into the Maasai Mara — where they must cross the crocodile-filled Mara River. The dramatic river crossings — where crocodiles pick off stragglers and big cats wait on the banks — are considered one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on Earth. The migration is year-round and continuous, driven by grass phenology and rainfall patterns that the animals track through smell and memory.