Nomads of the Serengeti (2015): Season 1, Episode 2 - Return to the Mara - full transcript
The annual Serengeti wildebeest migration is a journey so fraught with peril, it's a wonder they set off at all. For wildlife expert Jean du Plessis, it's a unique chance to see how a new ...
It's the greatest wildlife
spectacle on earth.
Jean du Plessis follows the
wildebeest migration through
the Serengeti
So there's a birth about to
happen just right here
in this group.
The wildebeests
have given birth.
Now they head back North to face
the crossing of the treacherous
Mara River.
There's a huge crocodile in the
river. A croc of this size only
needs one decent
meal once a year.
Jean aims to time his
arrival perfectly
There's another very
large group that's also
pushing onto the river.
But when and where they'll
cross is anyone's guess.
There are no timetables for
these nomads of the Serengeti.
NOMADS OF THE SERENGETI - SEASON 1
EP - 2 - Return to the Mara
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The Serengeti is one of the
oldest intact ecosystems
on earth.
It covers an area nearly the
size of Belgium, and spans two
countries - Tanzania in the
South and Kenya in the North.
The ecosystem has evolved
over millions of years.
Every living thing here -
from the tiniest insect to the
largest creature - plays a
very specific part in keeping
it balanced.
The most important driver
of this system is the
wildebeest migration.
And the mechanism that
triggers them to move is
the weather.
Sometime around October, thunder
clouds build on the horizon,
and the rains begin to move
South - signaling the start of
one of the greatest mass
movements of animals on
the planet.
It begins with the
actions of a single animal.
Then driven by an
ancient instinct,
the rest of the herd follows.
It's a dangerous journey, where
predators wait along the route
and prey on the passing herds.
And then there's the treacherous
crossing of the Mara River
where wildebeest will
die in the thousands.
Wildlife expert and safari guide
Jean du Plessis has been
tracking the herds.
The wildebeest have completed
the first trek of their
year long journey.
They've arrived on the short
grass plains where the females
have begun to give birth in what
is the largest mass birth of
mammals on the planet.
We just passed a female
with legs sticking out of her.
So there's a birth
about to happen.
She found a flat patch and she's
just kind of circling around.
She's chosen the safety of
the herd to give birth for
obvious reasons.
Hyenas, lions and all kinds of
predators are out on the prowl
this time of the morning and
they are keeping a watchful eye
out for something
just like this.
Yeah, it's going to
happen any moment now.
There you go,
she just stood back up.
That's like having gravity
help her - but then there the
baby drops!
It's incredible.
She's just coming round
sniffing on the baby now.
It's amazing how
quickly this all happens.
It's about five to ten minutes
now and the baby is starting to
move around a bit more.
It's kind of trying to stand up
pushing off with it's hind legs
but very off balance still.
This young guy will be ready
to go in the next five minutes.
This young guy will be ready
to go in the next five minutes.
There you go.
The new generation
starting all over.
In a few months time this baby
would even be strong enough to
start up the migration up
North and by July - August,
even cross the Mara River.
It's incredible to think that
that little thing just born
there so, so helpless...
in six months time will be
crossing huge rivers full of
crocodiles that
are 12-13 feet long.
You know, and besides that of
course they also have to travel
250 miles to get there
through hyena and
lion infested savannah.
Less than 10 minutes after
's born the baby is on it's
feet.
This is where the baby
will imprint on it's mother.
They will get to know one
another's scent and call.
This is just the start of the
wildebeest's mass births
200,000 calves will be born
over the coming weeks. It's an
extremely smart
adaptive strategy.
On these open plains the
newborns are easy prey to the
predators that
follow the migration.
So by flooding the market with
so many newborns at once tilts
the odds in the
wildebeests favor.
Some will be taken, but
many more will survive.
There are huge challenges ahead
for the newborn wildebeests.
In two months time, the calves
will be ready to join their
mothers on the
return trip up North.
But this first 24 hours is
crucial for it's survival.
But with so many newborns today,
the first day is a trying time.
This is a little water hole
outside of camp and this is
some of the only standing
water in the area.
And these animals found it.
Yeah.
Great delight.
There's a bit of a disturbance.
For many of these young
wildebeest that were born this
morning or last night, this will
be the first time that they are
drinking and there's a
little bit of pandemonium as the
wildebeest start to run around
and they lose their mothers.
And there's a fear of
them just standing around.
There's one here in the grass
that clearly lost it's mom,
and a few of the adult females
have been coming around just
smelling it and showing
a little bit of concern.
The poor thing must've
been born this morning,
early, and to already
lose your mom...
There's some interest.
And there's a second baby
that's also coming up now,
even younger.
That one is tiny.
You can still see the
umbilical cord hanging down.
You can see there's a few
mothers coming up smelling
some of these lost babies.
And they will immediately
push them away once they realize
that's not their calf.
Wildebeests are very much like
bats or flamingos where every
calf has a particular frequency
that the mother zones in on.
And it's not uncommon for babies
to get lost but they generally
find each other.
Luckily for this calf, it's
mother responds to it's cries
and the two are reunited.
The pair head off with the baby
sticking closer by this time.
Wildlife expert and safari
Guide Jean du Plessis,
is in the central Serengeti
following the year long
wildebeest migration.
It's February - the midway
point on the migration route.
Jean is on the short grass
plains in the South observing
the mass births - the
wildebeest females all give
birth at the same time.
Hundreds of thousands of
calves are born in a two to
three week period.
For a species constantly
on the move, this is an
excellent survival strategy.
The newborns are vulnerable
to the predators that
follow the migration.
The only safety is in numbers.
So the female wildebeests
have timed their births
to flood the market.
Some will fall to predators,
but with so many young,
the odds are in the
wildebeests favor.
For the newborns,
life starts quickly.
The calves are up and
running within ten minutes
of being born.
The first 24 hours is
crucial for these newborns.
This is when they bond
with their mothers.
But in a massive herd, the
little ones often get lost.
Jean has found a calf wandering
along a main road - alone.
I just came across
a baby wildebeest
that's obviously lost.
And what happens is they, they
basically imprint on anything.
So it saw this vehicle driving
fairly close to him and came
running up to it.
And at this stage of their lives
they're so dependent on a bigger
creature taking
care of them, that um,
even if I got out of the car
it will come right up to me and
hope for some care.
It's quite sad.
The baby heads off over the
plains in search of it's mother.
Luckily, it chooses the
direction that takes it back to
the protection of the herd.
And that's a good
thing, Just up the road,
Jean finds a predator.
I just came upon a cheetah,
she's down in a
crouching position.
It looks to me like
she's hunting.
She's looking at wildebeests;
there's quite a few of them
around, but there's also like 4
or 5 Thompson's gazelles here
that she's more
than likely after.
It also seems like these
Thompson's gazelles are moving
towards her, but also
still not looking at her.
There she goes!
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I think she couldn't make up
her mind which one to go after,
and it's so important for
cheetahs to focus on one gazelle
and just stick behind that.
It seemed like she was going
between two different groups and
she didn't get
lucky on this one.
The cheetah has
missed it's prey.
It's too hot now
for another attempt,
so it retreats and will look
for any shade it can find.
She's now walking
back to her cubs,
which seems to be the
only shade in the area.
It's actually a safari vehicle,
that's parked behind us -
who is also witnessing this, and
the cubs are lying under their
vehicle and she is on
her way there as well.
There's no lunch for them.
But the cubs seem
fine with that.
Now they have more time to play.
So the mom just came to
this vehicle to join her cubs.
This is the only shade around
and they need to improvise and
they are really having a good
time lying under the vehicle.
There's three cubs here.
Extremely playful...
and obviously enjoying the new
tires on this vehicle and giving
it a good chew.
These guys are going to be
stuck here for a while.
I'm trying to make sure none
of these cubs come and lie down
under our car, cause the moment
they get under your car you
ain't going anywhere.
These cheetahs are pretty much
down for the rest of the day so
I hope these guys have lunch
with them.
Or maybe they will be
lunch! (Laughs)
The tourists will have to
stay put until the cheetahs deci
move, which will most likely
mean a few more hours until the
temperature starts to
cool, and the cheetahs
head off to find dinner.
The wildebeest herds will spend
the next few months in the short
grass plains, feeding
on the rich grasses,
and nurturing their young.
But soon the rains will start
moving North signaling the herds
that it's time to
get going again.
The wildebeest migration
is not just a defining piece of
life on the Serengeti -
It is also a key driver
of the ecosystem.
Over the course of the year,
the millions of wildebeests
drastically affect
the landscape.
The animals graze on the grasses
like a giant team of lawnmowers,
allowing new shoots to grow,
and keeping the plains healthy.
With millions of wildebeests,
there's a lot of waste.
Some of that dung fertilizes the
grass, which in turn helps it
to grow for the next
time the animals pass.
But there is so much dung -
that nature has developed other
solutions to make sure
plains are not overwhelmed.
On the Serengeti an army of it's
smallest residents go to work.
We just came upon this great
dung beetle making a dung ball
out of some zebra droppings.
It's incredible to actually
watch the whole thing happen
from the beginning, where the
beetle has almost cut out this
ball and then selecting these
really good pieces of dung to
complete the ball.
And it's using these spade-
like legs to pat it down
and make it round.
What it's going to do now
is it will start to roll it,
and the idea about the rolling
is to now cover it in soil,
making a really solid casing
that will eventually protect the
egg and then later on the larvae
that's going to be inside this
wet pile of dung.
Ah, there we go!
There we go!
Quite amazing.
Look at that.
This thing is like 10 times
the size of this dung beetle,
and it's moving it.
It's not only going to move it,
it's going to push it quite a
considerable distance.
And the idea about the distance
pushing is to cover this wet mud
with this soil.
Insect life is crucial
to the ecosystem,
and true to the
Serengeti's epic nature,
even the small creatures
do things in big ways.
Scattered throughout Africa are
impressive structures built of
mud and clay.
These are termite mounds.
Their architects, although
tiny, have a huge role to play.
With 2.5 million mammals in the
migration, one would think that
nothing can out-compete them
when it comes to the amount of
grass that's consumed.
But the true champions are
in fact these little guys.
Within a termite
mount there's no sexes.
Theoretically they are
all sterile females.
But they are categorized in
classes and what I see here are
lots of different individuals
doing different functions.
There are some
bringing up the mud,
building the mound, and there's
others that will be collecting
dead plant materials but
then there's these big guys,
the soldiers, who would just
be walking around and they're
constantly tapping their heads.
It's like a signal, and I'm sure
they're a little bit disturbed
with me being here, and that's a
signal that they're giving that
there's something close by.
And their sole purpose will be
to defend all these smaller ones
which are completely helpless.
These harvester termites don't
actually carry the dead plant
material in their mandibles,
but they would swallow it and
regurgitate it when they
get back into the mound.
These plants then act as a
substrate for fungi to grow in
and that is what
these termites eat.
That's also one of the main
reasons for these chimneys,
is that it creates an air
conditioning system that
maintains a constant temperature
within the mound of about 26 -
27 degrees Celsius and it's just
a perfect environment for fungi
to grow.
These harvester termites eat
enormous amounts of grass and
plant material.
Their eating habits, and
the placement of these mounds
changes soil textures.
In Africa there is lots of
different types of mounds that
one can find and the bulk
of the mound goes down,
and if I look down
into these chimneys.
It is at least 8 feet down
that the actual air vent goes.
Because these termites are not
actually living inside the air
vents they have got no problem
with other creatures making use
of such a safe environment.
This mount have a hive of
African honeybees living inside
here; I can constantly
see them coming and going.
But even more interesting
is that there's some sort of
predator living in here
- a small predator that
predominantly feeds off of
something like millipedes,
because I can see a lot of
millipede shells lying around.
And there's even a
dead bird inside.
It's just such a fantastic
entire ecosystem.
It's just such a fantastic
entire ecosystem.
The short grass plains in
the South of the Serengeti are
beginning to dry out.
The rains are moving North.
As always, the wildebeest's
instinct compels them to follow.
Instinct tells them the
rains will lead them to
better grazing land.
The babies have survived
their first three months and are
getting stronger.
They need to, because
in just two months time,
they will face the greatest
challenge of their lives -
their first crossing of the
crocodile infested Mara River.
Wildlife expert and Safari
Guide Jean du Plessis has been
checking in with the herds
at various points on their
annual route.
Along the way he's taking time
to explore some of the dynamic
relationships in the
Serengeti's ecosystem.
The Serengeti is one of the few
unspoiled places on the planet.
This makes it a perfect place to
to see how an ecosystem evolves
to support a variety of species.
Everything - from a blade of
grass to the predators,
and the giants of Africa,
all play their roles, and
they are all inter-connected.
Remove one, and the whole
ecosystem can be thrown
out of balance.
The Savannah elephant
is a large animal,
and it's impact on this
ecosystem is equally large.
Elephants are bulk feeders,
and eat a lot of foliage.
So their role in this symbiotic
system is to maintain the
Savanna and woodlands by
reducing tree density,
and keeping the forest from
overrunning the grass plains.
Some species flourish by
developing a survival
mechanism that draws some,
and repels others.
Trees develop nutritious leaves,
or tasty fruit to encourage
animals to eat.
The animals them move on and
deposit seeds from the trees in
a new location, in a
fresh pile of fertilizer.
But too much of a good thing
can be bad for the trees,
so they have also evolved
ways of keeping browsers like
elephant and giraffe
from eating too much.
This is an acacia tortilis.
This is one of the most common
trees in the Serengeti and
what's interesting is that it's
also one of the most nutritious
leaves and probably
the tree of choice for
something like a giraffe.
In the rest of the world
there's over 800 different
species of Acacia.
Most of the Acacia species
have not got thorns,
and they're completely
evolved in Africa as a form of
protection against
these massive browsers,
but still the giraffe managed to
find a way to get past these
thorns with the prehensile
tongue that can really go
in between these thorns
and completely strip
off these little leaves.
Giraffes are highly efficient so
they are obviously getting what
they need to live out on these
sometimes very barren plains.
Another interesting thing about
these acacias are that they've
got these tiny,
tiny little leaves,
and the main reason is to allow
maximum sun to reach the leaves
but to avoid it losing
too much moisture,
making it possible for this tree
to survive in such a dry and
arid environment.
Even something as routine as
one species having a bath,
can have benefits for another
species in an ecosystem that's
evolved in an
interconnected way.
This is Central Serengeti,
where there is water all year
round
and we just came upon a nice
breeding group of elephants that
came down for
their morning drink.
There's huge excitement between
some of the adolescents as they
go down into the river and are
having a good old swim and a
nice wash.
In a balanced ecosystem even
something as routine as a bath
can have benefits for
a number of species.
As the elephants splash and
play they widen the wallow,
which means it can
hold more water.
It also creates more access so
other animals can come to drink.
There's one elephant that's
having a good old scratch.
This is a good ways of
getting rid of ticks you know,
with a kind of mud, a
little bit of a body paint,
that scratches off
all the ticks.
He's coming out now.
It's really important for
elephants to get to water on a
fairly regular basis.
Their skins are about double the
size as it seems and it's all
kind of wrinkled up, and by
rolling around in mud and water
like this, a lot of water gets
trapped in these folds and that
will actually keep them cool
when they're out on the plains
it's extremely hot during
the middle of the day.
We've got a nice female.
Ah, I think she didn't like
me calling her a female.
They have the most incredible
wash and play and rub,
you know it's like a massive
spa that they found here.
This would be a very popular
little water hole in such hot
dry climates as right now.
I heard one of these older
cows make what we call a "tummy
rumble"; it's one of
their communication signals;
and that's generally a sign that
they want some kind of movement.
I'm sure one of these two here
are probably the matriarch and
she's in charge of this little
breeding group and she probably
feels like she had enough
now and it's time to move on.
And these younger ones
does not seem in the mood
to be moving on.
As the Central Serengeti
enters it's dry season,
and streams and
rivers disappear,
these wallows will become
refuges for another one of
Africa's great species.
Behind me is the Orange river,
and this is one of many seasonal
rivers in the Serengeti.
The catchment area for this
river is coming off the short
grass plains and it only
feeds into this river
during the rain season.
Right here it's a little bit of
a dammed area where obviously
hippos are having a great time.
It's quite a popular tourist
stop where one can have easy
access to such great
herds of hippos.
Unfortunately for these guys,
as it gets dryer and dryer,
all of this water
will eventually dry up.
And that can be quite
catastrophic for hippos in
extreme dry seasons.
Fortunately hippos do have a
little bit of a backup system
that can give them a few more
days when it's completely dry.
They release their
own type of sunscreen,
that's referred to as "blood
sweat" and that will turn a
hippo completely red and
give them another two,
three, maybe up to five days to
survive hopefully waiting for
rain to arrive.
These hippos can have a bit of a
tough time during certain times
of the year which is different
to hippos living up in the
Northern Serengeti, living
in the Mara river,
that's got a year
round supply of water.
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It's July in the Serengeti,
and the wildebeests have begun
their migration back up
North towards Kenya.
The newborns are getting
stronger each day.
They'll need that strength.
In a few weeks time - they will
face their biggest challenge of
their lives - the crossing of
the treacherous Mara River.
Wildlife Expert and Safari
guide Jean du Plessis has been
tracking the herds since
they began their journey
9 months ago.
So the migration is heading
North at the moment,
and it seems like it has
split up into two groups.
One group going West,
and another group going East.
Now the problem is that the
group going East is heading into
the Serengeti wilderness area,
that's inaccessible to us,
and the group heading West
are heading into private game
reserves where we
also cannot go into.
So our only hope is to reconnect
with this group as they are
heading into the Northern
Serengeti and maybe get together
again and form one of
these huge megaherds.
For Jean, the good news is that
the wildebeest will be moving
very fast - and for good reason.
They're moving through the
woodlands and the wildebeest
feel vulnerable here.
Lions and other predators have
lots of cover which gives them a
great advantage when it
comes to hunting wildebeest.
The central part of the
Serengeti is entering it's
dry season.
As the rains move North, the
rivers and streams begin to
recede, leaving only
small pockets of water.
This affects different
species in different ways.
These small pools of water
become gathering places for
animals to drink and cool off.
And that makes it a perfect
place for predators like lions,
to find their next meal.
I just drove over a small bridge
and there's a male lion lying on
the side of this river.
This is the beginning of the
Grumeti river and they've killed
a zebra and have eaten quite
a bit - they are really thick.
It seems like he's going to
pull this back in the shade.
What probably happened here is
that these zebras came down to
drink and these
males ambushed them.
It looks like
fairly young males,
you know, their manes are
not completely full yet,
so it's hard for these
males to make a kill.
So there is a perfect place for
these males to be lining up,
waiting for these zebras
to come down and drink.
And that's more than
likely what happened.
And he's trying to kind of pull
this back into the shade now,
but it's so hot and you
need to decide where
he's going to
preserve his energy.
There's actually a big
croc on the river as well,
that's eyeing up that carcass;
(Lion roars)
that lion's giving a roar.
And you can see this crocodile
opening his mouth and probably
hissing back at the lion.
It's quite amazing
seeing something like this.
Crocodiles have evolved to
live in water where they are
fast and agile hunters.
They're not really designed
to attack on land.
When the rivers dry up, the
crocs lose most of their
predatory advantage, and they
have to become scavengers if
they want to eat.
Nothing of this
animal will go to waste,
there is always another species
that will line up to take over
when another is done.
The lion is so stuffed
his belly is stretched,
but even still he is reluctant
to concede defeat and leave his
prize to the croc.
(Lion roars)
The lion retreats.
Backing off was a good
decision for the young lion.
Even on land and
out of it's element,
a croc is formidable foe.
It has the strongest bite force
in the animal kingdom - at
least three times
that of a lion.
While the crocodiles in this
little river do what they can to
get a meal - their brothers
in the Mara River are in their
element and getting ready
for their annual feast.
This is the Mara river and this
is the last major obstacle that
these newborns will
have to contend with,
but not only do they need to
cross this river and potentially
choose a bad crossing place
and die in the thousands,
they also need to navigate
themselves around monster
crocodiles that's lying here
waiting for an entire year for
this very crossing.
This very crossing.
There is a huge
crocodile in the river.
What's extremely interesting
about crocodiles in general are
that they are cold blooded, so
they don't need to eat food on a
daily basis to keep their
body temperatures warm.
A croc of this size only needs
one decent meal once a year.
These huge Nile crocodiles are
probably our best look into what
massive dinosaurs looked like.
They have stayed unchanged
since the dinosaur era, and
they're probably the best
example of something that's
so custom designed to - to
the way they live.
And they didn't need to evolve
much since those early days.
They can completely submerge
themselves with only their
nostrils and their eyes above
the water and still even then it
just looks like four
pebbles that's in the water,
and get right in close
to make effective kills.
For us to experience
crocodiles making a kill,
it's very important to be here
the moment these first herds of
wildebeest will arrive at the
riverbanks and start crossing,
because that's when
when the crocodile
will more than
likely make a kill.
(Crocodile Splashes)
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It's now August, and soon the
wildebeest herds will be back at
the Mara River. This is where
Jean started to track the herd
almost a year ago.
The journey has
covered 10 months,
and it is almost at an end.
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The Mara River is
the lifeblood of the
Northern Serengeti Ecosystem.
It spans two countries,
beginning in the highlands of
Southern Kenya, snaking it's way
across the Tanzanian border,
and emptying into Lake Victoria.
It's constant flows
divides the park into two.
The wildebeest are headed to
open grasslands on the opposite
side of the river where they'll
spend the next three months.
I'm on my way to try and find
the front end of the migration.
This time of year they already
should have been kind of all
over the Northern
part of the Serengeti.
I'm just driving hill after
hill, and plain after plain,
and there is absolutely
nothing out here.
It's a little bit disheartening,
you know, to just, uh -
not see a thing around.
An entire industry is dependent
upon the migration that was
supposed to be here already
about a month ago, and for some
reason, it seems that
they have flanked to the
North and a little bit to the
West of this very crucial
Northern Serengeti,
or called Kogatende area.
As the week progresses there
is still no sign of the
wildebeest. Jean has no
choice but to wait them out.
The herds were last seen
heading out of the Serengeti
National Park into private
land where even wildlife
experts like Jean
are not allowed.
Where and when the
wildebeests will re-enter
the park is anyone's guess.
The reason for the
delay is the lack of rain.
The wildebeest
herds follow the rain.
But no rain means the grasses
which should be lush and green,
are still dry and brown.
Soon, storm clouds begin
to build on the horizon,
fueled by moisture from
nearby Lake Victoria.
Little by little, they grow
into massive thunder clouds,
until they burst in
a torrent of rain.
These short intense storms
criss-cross the Northern
Serengeti and head towards
the grasslands North of the
Mara River.
(Thunder Roars)
It only takes a few days of
rain to give life to the land,
and before long, the area
is green with new grass.
All that's left now is for
the wildebeest to come.
So I arrived in the
area a little bit early.
The migration is yet to
arrive but there was some big
thundershowers last night
and that generally will
pull in the herds.
So there's not much more to
do but sit here and wait here.
I can imagine worse places to
wait than here in the Serengeti.
And with the rains, the
wildebeest begin to move.
Now the question is,
where will they show up?
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The next morning, Jean
gets out at first light in
search of the advancing herds
he knows will be coming.
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In front of me is where we saw
that storm last night and an
area in front of us is called
Bologonjo and behinds me is
Kogatende, and I suspect to find
the big herds just over this
rise, but the big concern is
that if they go just slightly
East, they can go into Kenya
and cross the river in the Masai
Mara, which is on
the Kenyan side,
meaning that the entire Northern
Tanzania is going to miss out on
seeing a migration and
river crossings this season.
Kenya is actually just a couple
of miles over that way, but
to reach that we have to go
all the way back to Arusha,
and that's about a two day
journey to then get into the
Masai Mara.
So I really hope that the
animals that's potentially in
front of us is gonna swing
West and come a little bit
down-river and have a
couple of crossings down
on the Tanzania side.
But Jean doesn't
have to wait long.
Just over the next rise, he
finds that the wildebeest
have arrived.
There are so many
animals, they dominate the
plains and surrounding hills.
They just crossed a little
stream, and all of these
wildebeests are coming
down to drink.
It's about midday, very hot,
so there are thousands around.
They are moving towards
the Mara River to make
the crossing.
Now the question is,
where will they cross?
Will they head into Kenya? Or
will they stay in Tanzania?
A male shows interest
in a passing female.
It will soon be the annual
run when the wildebeest
will mate again.
For now though, they
have a river to cross.
So we just came over hill and we
hit the Mara River, and there's
a big group of wildebeest
starting to pack along the banks
of the river, and this is
normally a good sign of them
wanting to cross. The general
direction here is to keep on
going North so these animals are
vacantly lining up for crossing.
It might happen today,
it might happen
tomorrow morning,
I mean, the only way
you're going to see it is
to hang around and wait.
The wildebeest migration is
one of the greatest spectacles
in the animal kingdom.
They spend their lives almost
constantly on the move in a
circle that takes them
around the Serengeti.
It's August, and they are
heading back North.
One obstacle remains, the
crossing of the crocodile
infested Mara River.
So we just came over hill and we
hit the Mara river, and there's
a big group of wildebeests
starting to pack along the banks
of the river, and this is
normally a good sign of them
wanting to cross. It might
happen today, might happen
tomorrow morning, I mean, the
only way you're gonna see it is
to hang around and wait.
Jean will keep
following the herds.
It was 6 months ago that
the young wildebeest
were born.
This river crossing is a major
event for adult wildebeest who
have done this before, but this
is the first time that the
little ones have ever seen or
experienced this river.
Evolution has timed the birth so
that the newborns have had
enough time to develop their
strength and coordination
before they encounter the river.
Yeah, this group in front of
me is probably about 2 to 3000
and counting, but
after the North,
there's another group of a
couple of thousand. Seems like
they - they would see these guys
running, and they're on their
way here, but then down to the
South, there's another very
large group that's also pushing
onto the river, so I think I'm
in the best position now to kind
of scout all the areas, and
we'll see where it starts to
happen, and they'll make their
choice from there.
Jean has timed his arrival
perfectly. The second
column of wildebeest
advancing up the Western side
has now broken out of the
wilderness zone, and into
Kogatende. They are heading
straight towards him. It is
shaping up to be a mega
crossing. In spite of the
presence of thousands of
wildebeest on the shores, the
crocodiles lie still.
Crossing point after crossing
point is passed up,
as the lead animals
assess their chances
of survival.
Finally, they choose, and
a single animal descends,
unleashing a waterfall of
wildebeest behind.
(Wildebeest Gallop)
These animals don't plan to wait
- they are ready to cross.
The first wildebeest jumps,
followed by it's yearling.
The others following
behind them.
Within seconds, hundreds
of animals begin to snake
their way across the river.
(Wildebeest Grunt)
The crocs are drawn
to the commotion.
So these wildebeest have been
crossing the whole morning, and
there's 2 or 3 huge
crocodiles that's making their
way in the line of
wildebeests crossing.
The crocs get into
position as the wildebeest
struggle to get up
the other side.
Having seen the crocs, the
rest of the herd stops crossing.
Two crocs take aim on
a yearling, but luckily the
animal finds ground below the
water, and is able to out
maneuver them.
They quickly scramble up
the far bank to safety.
One of the crocs has caught
caught a wildebeest.
Just towards the end of the
crossing, there was this
enormous croc that got a hold of
a yearling that was struggling
to get up the rocks, and it
pulled it down, and then the
second crocodile came in, and
literally just took the entire
head off this wildebeest in his
mouth and all of them submerged,
and that's the last we
ever saw of all of them.
With too may crocs to
contend with, the wildebeest
have moved on to a new
crossing point just down river.
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We have been sitting here now
for probably the last 30 minutes
a constant stream of animals is
streaming through the river, I
would estimate about now 10,000
animals at least have crossed in
front of us.
The wildebeest live out
their entire life cycle
as a tribe of nomads on the
Serengeti plains.
Constantly on the move,
stopping only briefly before
they follow the rains again in
search of the next
green pasture.
They have evolved as great
sustainers of the plains,
caretakers of the land, and also
food for the predators
along the way.
It's a naturally evolved,
perfectly balanced eco system,
with every blade of grass, every
creature on land, and bird in
the sky playing it's part in
this continuous cycle of life
on the Serengeti plains.
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So this is it.
This migration of wildebeest
and Zebra are one of the last
remaining mega migrations of the
planet, and what makes this so
successful is the fact that the
Serengeti has been kept intact
for so many years.
The wildebeest crossed over
into Kenya, and this is the
completion of that circle where
they would eventually in a
couple of months be pulled down
back into Central Serengeti
because of thundershowers
that start out that way.
spectacle on earth.
Jean du Plessis follows the
wildebeest migration through
the Serengeti
So there's a birth about to
happen just right here
in this group.
The wildebeests
have given birth.
Now they head back North to face
the crossing of the treacherous
Mara River.
There's a huge crocodile in the
river. A croc of this size only
needs one decent
meal once a year.
Jean aims to time his
arrival perfectly
There's another very
large group that's also
pushing onto the river.
But when and where they'll
cross is anyone's guess.
There are no timetables for
these nomads of the Serengeti.
NOMADS OF THE SERENGETI - SEASON 1
EP - 2 - Return to the Mara
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The Serengeti is one of the
oldest intact ecosystems
on earth.
It covers an area nearly the
size of Belgium, and spans two
countries - Tanzania in the
South and Kenya in the North.
The ecosystem has evolved
over millions of years.
Every living thing here -
from the tiniest insect to the
largest creature - plays a
very specific part in keeping
it balanced.
The most important driver
of this system is the
wildebeest migration.
And the mechanism that
triggers them to move is
the weather.
Sometime around October, thunder
clouds build on the horizon,
and the rains begin to move
South - signaling the start of
one of the greatest mass
movements of animals on
the planet.
It begins with the
actions of a single animal.
Then driven by an
ancient instinct,
the rest of the herd follows.
It's a dangerous journey, where
predators wait along the route
and prey on the passing herds.
And then there's the treacherous
crossing of the Mara River
where wildebeest will
die in the thousands.
Wildlife expert and safari guide
Jean du Plessis has been
tracking the herds.
The wildebeest have completed
the first trek of their
year long journey.
They've arrived on the short
grass plains where the females
have begun to give birth in what
is the largest mass birth of
mammals on the planet.
We just passed a female
with legs sticking out of her.
So there's a birth
about to happen.
She found a flat patch and she's
just kind of circling around.
She's chosen the safety of
the herd to give birth for
obvious reasons.
Hyenas, lions and all kinds of
predators are out on the prowl
this time of the morning and
they are keeping a watchful eye
out for something
just like this.
Yeah, it's going to
happen any moment now.
There you go,
she just stood back up.
That's like having gravity
help her - but then there the
baby drops!
It's incredible.
She's just coming round
sniffing on the baby now.
It's amazing how
quickly this all happens.
It's about five to ten minutes
now and the baby is starting to
move around a bit more.
It's kind of trying to stand up
pushing off with it's hind legs
but very off balance still.
This young guy will be ready
to go in the next five minutes.
This young guy will be ready
to go in the next five minutes.
There you go.
The new generation
starting all over.
In a few months time this baby
would even be strong enough to
start up the migration up
North and by July - August,
even cross the Mara River.
It's incredible to think that
that little thing just born
there so, so helpless...
in six months time will be
crossing huge rivers full of
crocodiles that
are 12-13 feet long.
You know, and besides that of
course they also have to travel
250 miles to get there
through hyena and
lion infested savannah.
Less than 10 minutes after
's born the baby is on it's
feet.
This is where the baby
will imprint on it's mother.
They will get to know one
another's scent and call.
This is just the start of the
wildebeest's mass births
200,000 calves will be born
over the coming weeks. It's an
extremely smart
adaptive strategy.
On these open plains the
newborns are easy prey to the
predators that
follow the migration.
So by flooding the market with
so many newborns at once tilts
the odds in the
wildebeests favor.
Some will be taken, but
many more will survive.
There are huge challenges ahead
for the newborn wildebeests.
In two months time, the calves
will be ready to join their
mothers on the
return trip up North.
But this first 24 hours is
crucial for it's survival.
But with so many newborns today,
the first day is a trying time.
This is a little water hole
outside of camp and this is
some of the only standing
water in the area.
And these animals found it.
Yeah.
Great delight.
There's a bit of a disturbance.
For many of these young
wildebeest that were born this
morning or last night, this will
be the first time that they are
drinking and there's a
little bit of pandemonium as the
wildebeest start to run around
and they lose their mothers.
And there's a fear of
them just standing around.
There's one here in the grass
that clearly lost it's mom,
and a few of the adult females
have been coming around just
smelling it and showing
a little bit of concern.
The poor thing must've
been born this morning,
early, and to already
lose your mom...
There's some interest.
And there's a second baby
that's also coming up now,
even younger.
That one is tiny.
You can still see the
umbilical cord hanging down.
You can see there's a few
mothers coming up smelling
some of these lost babies.
And they will immediately
push them away once they realize
that's not their calf.
Wildebeests are very much like
bats or flamingos where every
calf has a particular frequency
that the mother zones in on.
And it's not uncommon for babies
to get lost but they generally
find each other.
Luckily for this calf, it's
mother responds to it's cries
and the two are reunited.
The pair head off with the baby
sticking closer by this time.
Wildlife expert and safari
Guide Jean du Plessis,
is in the central Serengeti
following the year long
wildebeest migration.
It's February - the midway
point on the migration route.
Jean is on the short grass
plains in the South observing
the mass births - the
wildebeest females all give
birth at the same time.
Hundreds of thousands of
calves are born in a two to
three week period.
For a species constantly
on the move, this is an
excellent survival strategy.
The newborns are vulnerable
to the predators that
follow the migration.
The only safety is in numbers.
So the female wildebeests
have timed their births
to flood the market.
Some will fall to predators,
but with so many young,
the odds are in the
wildebeests favor.
For the newborns,
life starts quickly.
The calves are up and
running within ten minutes
of being born.
The first 24 hours is
crucial for these newborns.
This is when they bond
with their mothers.
But in a massive herd, the
little ones often get lost.
Jean has found a calf wandering
along a main road - alone.
I just came across
a baby wildebeest
that's obviously lost.
And what happens is they, they
basically imprint on anything.
So it saw this vehicle driving
fairly close to him and came
running up to it.
And at this stage of their lives
they're so dependent on a bigger
creature taking
care of them, that um,
even if I got out of the car
it will come right up to me and
hope for some care.
It's quite sad.
The baby heads off over the
plains in search of it's mother.
Luckily, it chooses the
direction that takes it back to
the protection of the herd.
And that's a good
thing, Just up the road,
Jean finds a predator.
I just came upon a cheetah,
she's down in a
crouching position.
It looks to me like
she's hunting.
She's looking at wildebeests;
there's quite a few of them
around, but there's also like 4
or 5 Thompson's gazelles here
that she's more
than likely after.
It also seems like these
Thompson's gazelles are moving
towards her, but also
still not looking at her.
There she goes!
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I think she couldn't make up
her mind which one to go after,
and it's so important for
cheetahs to focus on one gazelle
and just stick behind that.
It seemed like she was going
between two different groups and
she didn't get
lucky on this one.
The cheetah has
missed it's prey.
It's too hot now
for another attempt,
so it retreats and will look
for any shade it can find.
She's now walking
back to her cubs,
which seems to be the
only shade in the area.
It's actually a safari vehicle,
that's parked behind us -
who is also witnessing this, and
the cubs are lying under their
vehicle and she is on
her way there as well.
There's no lunch for them.
But the cubs seem
fine with that.
Now they have more time to play.
So the mom just came to
this vehicle to join her cubs.
This is the only shade around
and they need to improvise and
they are really having a good
time lying under the vehicle.
There's three cubs here.
Extremely playful...
and obviously enjoying the new
tires on this vehicle and giving
it a good chew.
These guys are going to be
stuck here for a while.
I'm trying to make sure none
of these cubs come and lie down
under our car, cause the moment
they get under your car you
ain't going anywhere.
These cheetahs are pretty much
down for the rest of the day so
I hope these guys have lunch
with them.
Or maybe they will be
lunch! (Laughs)
The tourists will have to
stay put until the cheetahs deci
move, which will most likely
mean a few more hours until the
temperature starts to
cool, and the cheetahs
head off to find dinner.
The wildebeest herds will spend
the next few months in the short
grass plains, feeding
on the rich grasses,
and nurturing their young.
But soon the rains will start
moving North signaling the herds
that it's time to
get going again.
The wildebeest migration
is not just a defining piece of
life on the Serengeti -
It is also a key driver
of the ecosystem.
Over the course of the year,
the millions of wildebeests
drastically affect
the landscape.
The animals graze on the grasses
like a giant team of lawnmowers,
allowing new shoots to grow,
and keeping the plains healthy.
With millions of wildebeests,
there's a lot of waste.
Some of that dung fertilizes the
grass, which in turn helps it
to grow for the next
time the animals pass.
But there is so much dung -
that nature has developed other
solutions to make sure
plains are not overwhelmed.
On the Serengeti an army of it's
smallest residents go to work.
We just came upon this great
dung beetle making a dung ball
out of some zebra droppings.
It's incredible to actually
watch the whole thing happen
from the beginning, where the
beetle has almost cut out this
ball and then selecting these
really good pieces of dung to
complete the ball.
And it's using these spade-
like legs to pat it down
and make it round.
What it's going to do now
is it will start to roll it,
and the idea about the rolling
is to now cover it in soil,
making a really solid casing
that will eventually protect the
egg and then later on the larvae
that's going to be inside this
wet pile of dung.
Ah, there we go!
There we go!
Quite amazing.
Look at that.
This thing is like 10 times
the size of this dung beetle,
and it's moving it.
It's not only going to move it,
it's going to push it quite a
considerable distance.
And the idea about the distance
pushing is to cover this wet mud
with this soil.
Insect life is crucial
to the ecosystem,
and true to the
Serengeti's epic nature,
even the small creatures
do things in big ways.
Scattered throughout Africa are
impressive structures built of
mud and clay.
These are termite mounds.
Their architects, although
tiny, have a huge role to play.
With 2.5 million mammals in the
migration, one would think that
nothing can out-compete them
when it comes to the amount of
grass that's consumed.
But the true champions are
in fact these little guys.
Within a termite
mount there's no sexes.
Theoretically they are
all sterile females.
But they are categorized in
classes and what I see here are
lots of different individuals
doing different functions.
There are some
bringing up the mud,
building the mound, and there's
others that will be collecting
dead plant materials but
then there's these big guys,
the soldiers, who would just
be walking around and they're
constantly tapping their heads.
It's like a signal, and I'm sure
they're a little bit disturbed
with me being here, and that's a
signal that they're giving that
there's something close by.
And their sole purpose will be
to defend all these smaller ones
which are completely helpless.
These harvester termites don't
actually carry the dead plant
material in their mandibles,
but they would swallow it and
regurgitate it when they
get back into the mound.
These plants then act as a
substrate for fungi to grow in
and that is what
these termites eat.
That's also one of the main
reasons for these chimneys,
is that it creates an air
conditioning system that
maintains a constant temperature
within the mound of about 26 -
27 degrees Celsius and it's just
a perfect environment for fungi
to grow.
These harvester termites eat
enormous amounts of grass and
plant material.
Their eating habits, and
the placement of these mounds
changes soil textures.
In Africa there is lots of
different types of mounds that
one can find and the bulk
of the mound goes down,
and if I look down
into these chimneys.
It is at least 8 feet down
that the actual air vent goes.
Because these termites are not
actually living inside the air
vents they have got no problem
with other creatures making use
of such a safe environment.
This mount have a hive of
African honeybees living inside
here; I can constantly
see them coming and going.
But even more interesting
is that there's some sort of
predator living in here
- a small predator that
predominantly feeds off of
something like millipedes,
because I can see a lot of
millipede shells lying around.
And there's even a
dead bird inside.
It's just such a fantastic
entire ecosystem.
It's just such a fantastic
entire ecosystem.
The short grass plains in
the South of the Serengeti are
beginning to dry out.
The rains are moving North.
As always, the wildebeest's
instinct compels them to follow.
Instinct tells them the
rains will lead them to
better grazing land.
The babies have survived
their first three months and are
getting stronger.
They need to, because
in just two months time,
they will face the greatest
challenge of their lives -
their first crossing of the
crocodile infested Mara River.
Wildlife expert and Safari
Guide Jean du Plessis has been
checking in with the herds
at various points on their
annual route.
Along the way he's taking time
to explore some of the dynamic
relationships in the
Serengeti's ecosystem.
The Serengeti is one of the few
unspoiled places on the planet.
This makes it a perfect place to
to see how an ecosystem evolves
to support a variety of species.
Everything - from a blade of
grass to the predators,
and the giants of Africa,
all play their roles, and
they are all inter-connected.
Remove one, and the whole
ecosystem can be thrown
out of balance.
The Savannah elephant
is a large animal,
and it's impact on this
ecosystem is equally large.
Elephants are bulk feeders,
and eat a lot of foliage.
So their role in this symbiotic
system is to maintain the
Savanna and woodlands by
reducing tree density,
and keeping the forest from
overrunning the grass plains.
Some species flourish by
developing a survival
mechanism that draws some,
and repels others.
Trees develop nutritious leaves,
or tasty fruit to encourage
animals to eat.
The animals them move on and
deposit seeds from the trees in
a new location, in a
fresh pile of fertilizer.
But too much of a good thing
can be bad for the trees,
so they have also evolved
ways of keeping browsers like
elephant and giraffe
from eating too much.
This is an acacia tortilis.
This is one of the most common
trees in the Serengeti and
what's interesting is that it's
also one of the most nutritious
leaves and probably
the tree of choice for
something like a giraffe.
In the rest of the world
there's over 800 different
species of Acacia.
Most of the Acacia species
have not got thorns,
and they're completely
evolved in Africa as a form of
protection against
these massive browsers,
but still the giraffe managed to
find a way to get past these
thorns with the prehensile
tongue that can really go
in between these thorns
and completely strip
off these little leaves.
Giraffes are highly efficient so
they are obviously getting what
they need to live out on these
sometimes very barren plains.
Another interesting thing about
these acacias are that they've
got these tiny,
tiny little leaves,
and the main reason is to allow
maximum sun to reach the leaves
but to avoid it losing
too much moisture,
making it possible for this tree
to survive in such a dry and
arid environment.
Even something as routine as
one species having a bath,
can have benefits for another
species in an ecosystem that's
evolved in an
interconnected way.
This is Central Serengeti,
where there is water all year
round
and we just came upon a nice
breeding group of elephants that
came down for
their morning drink.
There's huge excitement between
some of the adolescents as they
go down into the river and are
having a good old swim and a
nice wash.
In a balanced ecosystem even
something as routine as a bath
can have benefits for
a number of species.
As the elephants splash and
play they widen the wallow,
which means it can
hold more water.
It also creates more access so
other animals can come to drink.
There's one elephant that's
having a good old scratch.
This is a good ways of
getting rid of ticks you know,
with a kind of mud, a
little bit of a body paint,
that scratches off
all the ticks.
He's coming out now.
It's really important for
elephants to get to water on a
fairly regular basis.
Their skins are about double the
size as it seems and it's all
kind of wrinkled up, and by
rolling around in mud and water
like this, a lot of water gets
trapped in these folds and that
will actually keep them cool
when they're out on the plains
it's extremely hot during
the middle of the day.
We've got a nice female.
Ah, I think she didn't like
me calling her a female.
They have the most incredible
wash and play and rub,
you know it's like a massive
spa that they found here.
This would be a very popular
little water hole in such hot
dry climates as right now.
I heard one of these older
cows make what we call a "tummy
rumble"; it's one of
their communication signals;
and that's generally a sign that
they want some kind of movement.
I'm sure one of these two here
are probably the matriarch and
she's in charge of this little
breeding group and she probably
feels like she had enough
now and it's time to move on.
And these younger ones
does not seem in the mood
to be moving on.
As the Central Serengeti
enters it's dry season,
and streams and
rivers disappear,
these wallows will become
refuges for another one of
Africa's great species.
Behind me is the Orange river,
and this is one of many seasonal
rivers in the Serengeti.
The catchment area for this
river is coming off the short
grass plains and it only
feeds into this river
during the rain season.
Right here it's a little bit of
a dammed area where obviously
hippos are having a great time.
It's quite a popular tourist
stop where one can have easy
access to such great
herds of hippos.
Unfortunately for these guys,
as it gets dryer and dryer,
all of this water
will eventually dry up.
And that can be quite
catastrophic for hippos in
extreme dry seasons.
Fortunately hippos do have a
little bit of a backup system
that can give them a few more
days when it's completely dry.
They release their
own type of sunscreen,
that's referred to as "blood
sweat" and that will turn a
hippo completely red and
give them another two,
three, maybe up to five days to
survive hopefully waiting for
rain to arrive.
These hippos can have a bit of a
tough time during certain times
of the year which is different
to hippos living up in the
Northern Serengeti, living
in the Mara river,
that's got a year
round supply of water.
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It's July in the Serengeti,
and the wildebeests have begun
their migration back up
North towards Kenya.
The newborns are getting
stronger each day.
They'll need that strength.
In a few weeks time - they will
face their biggest challenge of
their lives - the crossing of
the treacherous Mara River.
Wildlife Expert and Safari
guide Jean du Plessis has been
tracking the herds since
they began their journey
9 months ago.
So the migration is heading
North at the moment,
and it seems like it has
split up into two groups.
One group going West,
and another group going East.
Now the problem is that the
group going East is heading into
the Serengeti wilderness area,
that's inaccessible to us,
and the group heading West
are heading into private game
reserves where we
also cannot go into.
So our only hope is to reconnect
with this group as they are
heading into the Northern
Serengeti and maybe get together
again and form one of
these huge megaherds.
For Jean, the good news is that
the wildebeest will be moving
very fast - and for good reason.
They're moving through the
woodlands and the wildebeest
feel vulnerable here.
Lions and other predators have
lots of cover which gives them a
great advantage when it
comes to hunting wildebeest.
The central part of the
Serengeti is entering it's
dry season.
As the rains move North, the
rivers and streams begin to
recede, leaving only
small pockets of water.
This affects different
species in different ways.
These small pools of water
become gathering places for
animals to drink and cool off.
And that makes it a perfect
place for predators like lions,
to find their next meal.
I just drove over a small bridge
and there's a male lion lying on
the side of this river.
This is the beginning of the
Grumeti river and they've killed
a zebra and have eaten quite
a bit - they are really thick.
It seems like he's going to
pull this back in the shade.
What probably happened here is
that these zebras came down to
drink and these
males ambushed them.
It looks like
fairly young males,
you know, their manes are
not completely full yet,
so it's hard for these
males to make a kill.
So there is a perfect place for
these males to be lining up,
waiting for these zebras
to come down and drink.
And that's more than
likely what happened.
And he's trying to kind of pull
this back into the shade now,
but it's so hot and you
need to decide where
he's going to
preserve his energy.
There's actually a big
croc on the river as well,
that's eyeing up that carcass;
(Lion roars)
that lion's giving a roar.
And you can see this crocodile
opening his mouth and probably
hissing back at the lion.
It's quite amazing
seeing something like this.
Crocodiles have evolved to
live in water where they are
fast and agile hunters.
They're not really designed
to attack on land.
When the rivers dry up, the
crocs lose most of their
predatory advantage, and they
have to become scavengers if
they want to eat.
Nothing of this
animal will go to waste,
there is always another species
that will line up to take over
when another is done.
The lion is so stuffed
his belly is stretched,
but even still he is reluctant
to concede defeat and leave his
prize to the croc.
(Lion roars)
The lion retreats.
Backing off was a good
decision for the young lion.
Even on land and
out of it's element,
a croc is formidable foe.
It has the strongest bite force
in the animal kingdom - at
least three times
that of a lion.
While the crocodiles in this
little river do what they can to
get a meal - their brothers
in the Mara River are in their
element and getting ready
for their annual feast.
This is the Mara river and this
is the last major obstacle that
these newborns will
have to contend with,
but not only do they need to
cross this river and potentially
choose a bad crossing place
and die in the thousands,
they also need to navigate
themselves around monster
crocodiles that's lying here
waiting for an entire year for
this very crossing.
This very crossing.
There is a huge
crocodile in the river.
What's extremely interesting
about crocodiles in general are
that they are cold blooded, so
they don't need to eat food on a
daily basis to keep their
body temperatures warm.
A croc of this size only needs
one decent meal once a year.
These huge Nile crocodiles are
probably our best look into what
massive dinosaurs looked like.
They have stayed unchanged
since the dinosaur era, and
they're probably the best
example of something that's
so custom designed to - to
the way they live.
And they didn't need to evolve
much since those early days.
They can completely submerge
themselves with only their
nostrils and their eyes above
the water and still even then it
just looks like four
pebbles that's in the water,
and get right in close
to make effective kills.
For us to experience
crocodiles making a kill,
it's very important to be here
the moment these first herds of
wildebeest will arrive at the
riverbanks and start crossing,
because that's when
when the crocodile
will more than
likely make a kill.
(Crocodile Splashes)
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It's now August, and soon the
wildebeest herds will be back at
the Mara River. This is where
Jean started to track the herd
almost a year ago.
The journey has
covered 10 months,
and it is almost at an end.
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The Mara River is
the lifeblood of the
Northern Serengeti Ecosystem.
It spans two countries,
beginning in the highlands of
Southern Kenya, snaking it's way
across the Tanzanian border,
and emptying into Lake Victoria.
It's constant flows
divides the park into two.
The wildebeest are headed to
open grasslands on the opposite
side of the river where they'll
spend the next three months.
I'm on my way to try and find
the front end of the migration.
This time of year they already
should have been kind of all
over the Northern
part of the Serengeti.
I'm just driving hill after
hill, and plain after plain,
and there is absolutely
nothing out here.
It's a little bit disheartening,
you know, to just, uh -
not see a thing around.
An entire industry is dependent
upon the migration that was
supposed to be here already
about a month ago, and for some
reason, it seems that
they have flanked to the
North and a little bit to the
West of this very crucial
Northern Serengeti,
or called Kogatende area.
As the week progresses there
is still no sign of the
wildebeest. Jean has no
choice but to wait them out.
The herds were last seen
heading out of the Serengeti
National Park into private
land where even wildlife
experts like Jean
are not allowed.
Where and when the
wildebeests will re-enter
the park is anyone's guess.
The reason for the
delay is the lack of rain.
The wildebeest
herds follow the rain.
But no rain means the grasses
which should be lush and green,
are still dry and brown.
Soon, storm clouds begin
to build on the horizon,
fueled by moisture from
nearby Lake Victoria.
Little by little, they grow
into massive thunder clouds,
until they burst in
a torrent of rain.
These short intense storms
criss-cross the Northern
Serengeti and head towards
the grasslands North of the
Mara River.
(Thunder Roars)
It only takes a few days of
rain to give life to the land,
and before long, the area
is green with new grass.
All that's left now is for
the wildebeest to come.
So I arrived in the
area a little bit early.
The migration is yet to
arrive but there was some big
thundershowers last night
and that generally will
pull in the herds.
So there's not much more to
do but sit here and wait here.
I can imagine worse places to
wait than here in the Serengeti.
And with the rains, the
wildebeest begin to move.
Now the question is,
where will they show up?
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The next morning, Jean
gets out at first light in
search of the advancing herds
he knows will be coming.
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In front of me is where we saw
that storm last night and an
area in front of us is called
Bologonjo and behinds me is
Kogatende, and I suspect to find
the big herds just over this
rise, but the big concern is
that if they go just slightly
East, they can go into Kenya
and cross the river in the Masai
Mara, which is on
the Kenyan side,
meaning that the entire Northern
Tanzania is going to miss out on
seeing a migration and
river crossings this season.
Kenya is actually just a couple
of miles over that way, but
to reach that we have to go
all the way back to Arusha,
and that's about a two day
journey to then get into the
Masai Mara.
So I really hope that the
animals that's potentially in
front of us is gonna swing
West and come a little bit
down-river and have a
couple of crossings down
on the Tanzania side.
But Jean doesn't
have to wait long.
Just over the next rise, he
finds that the wildebeest
have arrived.
There are so many
animals, they dominate the
plains and surrounding hills.
They just crossed a little
stream, and all of these
wildebeests are coming
down to drink.
It's about midday, very hot,
so there are thousands around.
They are moving towards
the Mara River to make
the crossing.
Now the question is,
where will they cross?
Will they head into Kenya? Or
will they stay in Tanzania?
A male shows interest
in a passing female.
It will soon be the annual
run when the wildebeest
will mate again.
For now though, they
have a river to cross.
So we just came over hill and we
hit the Mara River, and there's
a big group of wildebeest
starting to pack along the banks
of the river, and this is
normally a good sign of them
wanting to cross. The general
direction here is to keep on
going North so these animals are
vacantly lining up for crossing.
It might happen today,
it might happen
tomorrow morning,
I mean, the only way
you're going to see it is
to hang around and wait.
The wildebeest migration is
one of the greatest spectacles
in the animal kingdom.
They spend their lives almost
constantly on the move in a
circle that takes them
around the Serengeti.
It's August, and they are
heading back North.
One obstacle remains, the
crossing of the crocodile
infested Mara River.
So we just came over hill and we
hit the Mara river, and there's
a big group of wildebeests
starting to pack along the banks
of the river, and this is
normally a good sign of them
wanting to cross. It might
happen today, might happen
tomorrow morning, I mean, the
only way you're gonna see it is
to hang around and wait.
Jean will keep
following the herds.
It was 6 months ago that
the young wildebeest
were born.
This river crossing is a major
event for adult wildebeest who
have done this before, but this
is the first time that the
little ones have ever seen or
experienced this river.
Evolution has timed the birth so
that the newborns have had
enough time to develop their
strength and coordination
before they encounter the river.
Yeah, this group in front of
me is probably about 2 to 3000
and counting, but
after the North,
there's another group of a
couple of thousand. Seems like
they - they would see these guys
running, and they're on their
way here, but then down to the
South, there's another very
large group that's also pushing
onto the river, so I think I'm
in the best position now to kind
of scout all the areas, and
we'll see where it starts to
happen, and they'll make their
choice from there.
Jean has timed his arrival
perfectly. The second
column of wildebeest
advancing up the Western side
has now broken out of the
wilderness zone, and into
Kogatende. They are heading
straight towards him. It is
shaping up to be a mega
crossing. In spite of the
presence of thousands of
wildebeest on the shores, the
crocodiles lie still.
Crossing point after crossing
point is passed up,
as the lead animals
assess their chances
of survival.
Finally, they choose, and
a single animal descends,
unleashing a waterfall of
wildebeest behind.
(Wildebeest Gallop)
These animals don't plan to wait
- they are ready to cross.
The first wildebeest jumps,
followed by it's yearling.
The others following
behind them.
Within seconds, hundreds
of animals begin to snake
their way across the river.
(Wildebeest Grunt)
The crocs are drawn
to the commotion.
So these wildebeest have been
crossing the whole morning, and
there's 2 or 3 huge
crocodiles that's making their
way in the line of
wildebeests crossing.
The crocs get into
position as the wildebeest
struggle to get up
the other side.
Having seen the crocs, the
rest of the herd stops crossing.
Two crocs take aim on
a yearling, but luckily the
animal finds ground below the
water, and is able to out
maneuver them.
They quickly scramble up
the far bank to safety.
One of the crocs has caught
caught a wildebeest.
Just towards the end of the
crossing, there was this
enormous croc that got a hold of
a yearling that was struggling
to get up the rocks, and it
pulled it down, and then the
second crocodile came in, and
literally just took the entire
head off this wildebeest in his
mouth and all of them submerged,
and that's the last we
ever saw of all of them.
With too may crocs to
contend with, the wildebeest
have moved on to a new
crossing point just down river.
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We have been sitting here now
for probably the last 30 minutes
a constant stream of animals is
streaming through the river, I
would estimate about now 10,000
animals at least have crossed in
front of us.
The wildebeest live out
their entire life cycle
as a tribe of nomads on the
Serengeti plains.
Constantly on the move,
stopping only briefly before
they follow the rains again in
search of the next
green pasture.
They have evolved as great
sustainers of the plains,
caretakers of the land, and also
food for the predators
along the way.
It's a naturally evolved,
perfectly balanced eco system,
with every blade of grass, every
creature on land, and bird in
the sky playing it's part in
this continuous cycle of life
on the Serengeti plains.
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So this is it.
This migration of wildebeest
and Zebra are one of the last
remaining mega migrations of the
planet, and what makes this so
successful is the fact that the
Serengeti has been kept intact
for so many years.
The wildebeest crossed over
into Kenya, and this is the
completion of that circle where
they would eventually in a
couple of months be pulled down
back into Central Serengeti
because of thundershowers
that start out that way.