Wildebeest Migration, is one of the “Seven New Wonders of the World”. Wildebeest Migration in Masaai Mara is the only place in the world with such immense movement of animals. More than two million animals migrate from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to the greener pastures of the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya during July through to October.

The migration has to cross the Mara River in the Maasai Mara where crocodiles will prey on them. This is one of the highlights as the animals try and cross the Mara River alive.

In the Maasai Mara they will be hunted, stalked, and run down by the larger carnivores. The Maasai Mara also has one of the largest densities of lion in the world reason why BBC wildlife channels Big Cat Diary has made Maasai Mara their home.



The entire Wildebeest Migration is dependant upon the coming of the rains. In Africa’s hot and dry climate, such huge numbers of animal life cannot be sustained by one place. They have such a dramatic effect on the grazing pastures, taking no time at all to completely exhaust the available food supply.

As the rains come at different times in the Serengeti and the Masai Mara, so the animals are driven to search for the rain-ripened grasses and water to drink.

Wildebeest need to drink every day or at least every other day. So, this clockwise constant search for favorable conditions pushes the herds onwards, month by month in order to feed themselves and their young.

July-November: This is the best period to see the wildebeest making the deadly dive across the Mara Rive in Kenya. The arrival of the short rains diverts the migrating wildebeest southward. During the short rains of November the wildebeest migration is best viewed from either several Camps & Lodges in Mara. The first phase of the migration comes to an end towards end of November. The herd then begins a return journey Southern Serengeti plans and arrives in around December. They give birth as the year begins. And the circle continues.

Dec-Mar: Large herds of wildebeest and other herbivores are to be found on the plains of the Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. During the December-March periods, the plains in Southern Serengeti and Ngorongoro are inhabited by large population of wildebeest and zebra in search of the rain-ripened grass.

April-May: During this period, the depleted plains are unable to sustain the huge herds and the migration begins sweeping West and North. The animals move from the short grass plains of Southern Serengeti /Ngorongoro to the long grass plains and woodland of the Serengeti’s Western Corridor.