Wildebeest migration in Tanzania and Kenya, one of the world’s largest land migrations, is being disrupted. Published today at 4:06 am (Paris) 5 min read Lire en français Subscribers only Wildebeest migrating to greener pastures between the Maasai Mara National Reserve and the open plains of the Serengeti, Kenya on August 22, 2023. In the tall grass of the savanna, dotted with umbrella-shaped acacias, a dark mass stood out against the vastness. “Those are wildebeest!” exclaimed guide and driver Julieth Jones, with one arm resting on the Jeep’s window, the other holding her binoculars. “They found a more nutritious pasture, because it rained here.” Easily recognizable by their white beards and slightly sloped hindquarters, these herbivores grazed cautiously, ready to bolt at the slightest sound. Here in the Ikorongo Game Reserve, a protected area on the edge of the Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania, evidence of the recent downpour could be found in the ruts, filled with water in the middle of the dry season, which runs from June to November. “Normally, at this time of year, wildebeest would more likely be found north of the Serengeti and around the Maasai Mara reserve in Kenya,” explained Gadiel Tanapa, the park’s ecologist. “The change in rainfall patterns is affecting their behavior.” Throughout the year, thousands of wildebeest, zebras, Thomson’s gazelles and elands roam the plains of the Serengeti. Then, in what is one of the world’s largest land migrations, they head north to the Maasai Mara reserve in search of food and water during the dry season, returning back south for the wet season. However, this circular migration pattern is being altered by climate change. “The ecosystem experienced recurrent severe droughts, erratic wet conditions and a 4.8 to 5.8°C temperature rise over six decades,” reported a study published in […]