White-Bearded Wildebeest Serengeti Migration
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A White-Bearded Wildebeest Serengeti Migration is a white-bearded wildebeest animal migration that occurs within a Serengeti ecosystem.
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- Counter-Example(s):
- See: Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti.
References
2019
- (Wikipedia, 2019) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_wildebeest#Distribution_and_habitat Retrieved:2019-5-12.
- … Three African populations of blue wildebeest take part in a long-distance migrations, timed to coincide with the annual pattern of rainfall and grass growth on the volcanic soil short-grass plains, where they can find the nutrient-rich forage necessary for lactation and calf growth. The timing of the migration in both directions can vary considerably from year to year. At the end of the rainy season, they migrate to dry-season areas in response to a lack of drinking water. When the rainy season begins again a few months later, the animals trek back to their wet-season range. These movements and access to nutrient-rich forage for reproduction allow migratory wildebeest populations to grow to much larger numbers than resident populations. Many long-distance migratory populations of wildebeest existed 100 years ago, but currently, all but three migrations (Serengeti, Tarangire, and Kafue) have been disrupted, cut off, and lost.
2019b
- (Msoffe et al., 2019) ⇒ Fortunata U. Msoffe, Joseph O. Ogutu, Mohammed Y. Said, Shem C. Kifugo, Jan De Leeuw, Paul Van Gardingen, Robin S. Reid, Jared A. Stabach, and Randall Boone. (2019). “Wildebeest Migration in East Africa: Status, Threats and Conservation Measures.” BioRxiv
- ABSTRACT: Migration of ungulates is under pressure worldwide from range contraction, habitat loss and degradation, anthropogenic barriers and poaching. Here, we synthesize and compare the extent of historical migrations of the white-bearded wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) to their contemporary status, in five premier East African ecosystems, namely the Serengeti-Mara, Masai Mara, Athi-Kaputiei, Amboseli and Tarangire-Manyara. The current status, threats to migration, migratory ranges and routes for wildebeest were characterized using colonial-era maps, literature reviews, GIS and aerial survey databases, GPS collared animals and interviews with long-term researchers. Interference with wildebeest migratory routes and dispersal ranges has stopped or severely threatens continuation of the historical migration patterns in all but the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem where the threat level is relatively lower. Wildebeest migration has collapsed in Athi-Kaputiei ecosystem and is facing enormous pressures from land subdivision, settlements and fences in Amboseli and Mara ecosystems and from cultivation in Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem. Land use change, primarily expansion in agriculture, roads, settlements and fencing, increasingly restrict migratory wildebeest from accessing traditional grazing resources in unprotected lands. Privatization of land tenure in group ranches in Kenya and settlement policy (villagization) in Tanzania have accelerated land subdivision, fencing and growth in permanent settlements, leading to loss of key wildebeest habitats including their migratory routes and wet season calving and feeding grounds. These processes, coupled with increasing human population pressures and climatic variability, are exerting tremendous pressures on wildebeest migrations. Urgent conservation interventions are necessary to conserve and protect the critical wildebeest habitats and migration routes in East Africa.