Wildebeest

The wildebeest, also known as the gnu, is the driving force behind the Great Migration — the largest mass movement of land mammals on Earth. Each year, over 1.5 million wildebeest, accompanied by hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelles, travel roughly 3,000 kilometres in a clockwise loop between Tanzania's Serengeti and Kenya's Masai Mara.

This epic journey is driven by the search for fresh grazing and water, and involves dramatic river crossings at the Mara and Grumeti rivers where crocodiles lie in wait. The calving season on the southern Serengeti plains (January–March) sees approximately 500,000 calves born within a few weeks.