Serengeti National Park

ABOUT SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK
Serengeti National Park; Home to the big 5 and the wildebeest migration, best known for its abundance of animals and the greatest show on earth. The Serengeti stretches 14,763 sq. kilometers (5,700 sq. miles) stretching North to Kenya and bordering Lake Victoria to the West.

Serengeti has the highest concentration of large mammals on this planet and its famous known for its 2,500 Lions the largest concentration found anywhere. The park also has over 518 identified bird species where some of them are Eurasian migrants who are present in the European winter months from October to April.

THE GREAT ANNUAL WILDEBEEST MIGRATION MONTH BY MONTH TIMETABLE:
The Migration Monthly Timetable is to be used as a Guide. The Migration Pattern varies from one year to the next, as it all depends on the start of the rains.

JANUARY
The migration is concentrated in the south-eastern Serengeti National Park, spilling over into the Ngorongoro Crater the wildebeest start to give birth

FEBRUARY
The short-grass plains are the main feeding ground for over 1.7 million wildebeest, 800,000 zebra, and many gazelle. Predators follow close by, feeding on the newly born. There is plenty of food for the predators at this time. This is the main month for wildebeest births. The great herds are on the move towards the Ndutu Woodlands. This month is also known as the calving season.

MARCH
The commencement of long and heavy rains is the time when the fresh grass is now depleted from several months of grazing and newborn wildebeest are strong enough to move and keep up with the migration. Now is when the migration heads westwards towards Maswa Game reserve in search of better grazing.

APRIL/MAY
The heaviest rainy month and the herds are in the Maswa area, with the Wildebeest being almost evenly scattered in the region, although it is not a great month to view them as the region is very wet and roads are often impassable.

JUNE
Rains come to an end and the herds start migrating northward, crossing the Grumeti River, where many wildebeest and zebra lose their lives every year but provide a yearly feast for the huge crocodiles who wait at the popular crossing points. This is a popular time for sighting the large cats. July /August All going on schedule, the migration should now be in the northern Serengeti crossing over to Kenya’s Masai Mara.

JULY/AUGUST
Regarded as the best months to see the River Crossing on the Mara River from Masai Mara, offering fantastic photographic opportunities.

SEPTEMBER
The migration should now be in Kenya’s Masai Mara Nature Reserve just across the northern border from the Serengeti National Park. This is the best said to be the best time to visit Masai Mara.

OCTOBER
The time when Maasai Mara Nature Reserve having plentiful supplies of water and good grazing, hence a popular month to view the great herds in the Masai Mara.

NOVEMBER
If the short rains come this month, the migrating herds of Wildebeest, Zebra, and Gazelle will start to head southwards, out of the Masai Mara National Reserve, crossing Kenya’s border into Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.

DECEMBER
Usually, the migration will now be arriving on Serengeti’s Southern Plains, where there is an abundance of new, fresh young grass to feed on. When the migration heads southward to Southern Serengeti, the migrating zebras begin to give birth.

THE PARK CAN BE DIVIDED INTO 3 SECTIONS AS INDICATED BELOW

SERONERA
The central area of the Serengeti is used as a transition zone between northern woodlands and the southern plains. The river Seronera in which the area takes its name provides a permanent source of water, the surrounding trees provide shade for most big game such as Elephants, African Cape Buffalos, Topi, Hartebeests, Impalas, Gazelles, Reedbucks, Water Bucks, Elands and Dik Dik. This makes the area a perfect home for the most ferocious carnivorous like Lions, Leopards, Cheetah, Hyenas and Jackals

WESTERN CORRIDOR
This part of the Serengeti stretches west almost to Lake Victoria. After the rainy season the area is abundant in lush green grass. Millions of Wildebeests and Zebras gather here from May to July in preparation to cross the Crocodile rich waters. It is therefore also a popular area to find all the key predators!

SOUTHERN PLAINS
This is a key breeding ground for millions of Wildebeests and Zebras, the area is rich in calcium that is an essential key for the production of milk. This is known as a starting and ending point of the migratory route.