100 Places To Remember: Masai Mara, Kenya
Geschreven op 8-2-2010 - Erik van Erne. Geplaatst in Natuur
Home to the Longest and Largest Migration in the World. The Masai Mara savannah in Kenya and the Serengeti in Tanzania cover a combined area of some 25,000 square kilometres and form a unique ecosystem. The Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem is the site of the longest, largest and most diverse migration of grazing animals in the world, including 1.3 million wildebeest.
Every July, the wildebeest, accompanied by large herds of zebras and gazelles, migrate north from the plains of the Serengeti to the fresh, green pastures of the Masai Mara. The huge blue wildebeests provide protection against the kind of hungry predators lions, cheetahs and leopards that inevitably prey on such a heaving mass of herbivores. Hyenas, marabou storks and other scavengers also forage for scraps.
In October, led by the wildebeest, the whole caravan of migrating animals turns around and heads south again towards the Serengeti savannah.
Serengeti-Mara is now a national park. It is surrounded by urban settlements and privately owned farmland, so expansion is not an option.
The green pastures depend on seasonal rainfall, and the current outlook for climate change indicates that precipitation patterns in the region will change. It is impossible to say with certainty where rain will fall in future, but it seems likely that much of it will be outside the boundaries of the protected area of Serengeti-Mara. Any change of this nature would pose a serious threat to the ecosystem and to the survival of the migrating animals.
