Kenya beckons visitors to witness the Great Wildebeest Migration

If you would like to frolick around the wildlife this summer, Kenya is your destination with the Great Wildebeest Migration happening at Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. The Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) is looking to entice a new wave of first time visitors, especially around the Eid Al Fitr holidays (end of August), which falls in between the Great Wildebeest Migration. Thousands of families and visitors from across the globe visit Kenya to witness this natural phenomenon that occurs between July and September each year, where hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebras make their seasonal trek in search of water and greener pastures. The Great Migration is a 500 km round trip from the southern Serengeti to the north of the Maasai Mara National Reserve and is widely considered to be Africa’s greatest wildlife spectacle and one of the world’s most exceptional natural phenomena. The enormity of the Great Migration is overwhelming and includes 1,400,000 Wildebeest, 360,000 Thomson’s Gazelle, 191,000 Zebra and 12,000 Eland. These visitors join the already huge populations of herbivores which include 95,000 Topi, 76000 Impala, 46,000 African Buffalo, 26,000 Grant’s Gazelle, 14,000 Kongoni, 9,000 Giraffe, 6,000 Warthog, 2,000 Waterbuck and 2,000 Elephants. Adding drama to this already extraordinary spectacle, the migration attracts a hungry gathering of predators, most notably lions and hyenas, as they follow the herbivores along their migratory route.

Unbeknownst to many the Great Migration is a relatively recent phenomenon dating back only as far as the early 1960′s. In the 19th Century, a Rinderpest epidemic wiped out over 90 per cent of the wildebeest and cattle in East Africa. To further prevent spreading of the disease, veterinarians vaccinated cattle in the area and the disease soon disappeared. As a result, wildebeest thrived in the 1960′s and 1970′s, ballooning from 260,000 to the 1.4 million currently inhabiting the Serengeti Ecosystem. The growing herds were therefore forced to journey in search of water and grazing grasslands, starting the circular migratory route. Kenya also offers unparalleled luxury in the bush or on the beach. A top selection of lodging in across the country is available offering unique accommodation options; from community run safari camps to luxury lodges and villas on the beach.