The great Serengeti wildebeest migration is when a lot of Serengeti’s wildebeest move, along with a lot of zebras and fewer Grant’s gazelle, Thomson’s gazelle, eland, and impala. These move in a pretty predictable way that repeats itself every year. They move around all year, looking for new places to graze and, it is now thought, better water.

The exact timing of the Serengeti wildebeest migration depends on how much rain falls each year. Here, we explain how the big picture works.

The Serengeti wildebeest migration, month by month
Around the beginning of November, the short rains start. After this, in late November and December, the wildebeest migration groups arrive on the Serengeti’s short-grass plains. These are south and east of Seronera, around Ndutu, and in the north of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Wildebeest and zebra can be found all over these fields, where they eat the fresh, healthy grasses. They stay here in January, February, and March. Around February, most wildebeest calves are born during a short time. They slowly moved west across these fields, and then, around April, they started their big move north.
By May, it looks like all of the wildebeest in the Serengeti are going north to find new grass and water. The area around Moru Kopjes and west of Seronera is then full of hundreds of thousands of animals moving in columns. There are also a lot of zebras and a few Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelles.

Then, some of the migrants go straight north of Seronera, but most of them go west. Around June, the wildebeest migration often stops on the south side of the Grumeti River, where some channels stop or slow their journey north. The wildebeest then gather in the Western Corridor, where they often get very close together before crossing the river. The river here is usually a collection of pools and channels, but it doesn’t flow all the way through. This makes the crossings an annual feast for the large crocodiles in the Grumeti River, but they aren’t as exciting as the crossings of the Mara River, which are further north.
During July and August, the wildebeest migration keeps going north. It often moves in a wide front, with some animals going through Grumeti Reserve and Ikorongo and others going north through the middle of Serengeti National Park.

In September, the herds move to the northern Serengeti, where the Mara River is the biggest problem for the movement. This river flows through the northern Serengeti from Kenya’s Maasai Mara Game Reserve, which is right next to the Serengeti. Watching the wildebeest migration cross the Mara River can be a very exciting and interesting thing to do. There are often scenes of a lot of fear and confusion. Herds often cross the Mara River northbound one day and southbound a few days later.

By October, the wildebeest herds are migrating once more, this time with greater harmony: all of them are traveling south, across western Loliondo and the Lobo area of the Serengeti National Park, with the intention of arriving in November at the green shoots that appear after the rains on the short-grass plains of the southern Serengeti.

Then the entire migration of wildebeest through the Serengeti begins once more…