Great Migration

In the short grass plains of Ndutu and the southern Serengeti, approximately 8,000 newborn calves take their first unsteady steps every day during the calving season. Here, fertile soil, infused with ancient volcanic ash, gives rise to nutrient-rich grasses.

Almost all mothers give birth in a period of around three weeks. During this time, over 500,000 calves are born — while lions, cheetahs, leopards and hyenas feast.

The Great Migration’s most famous chapter unfolds in the northern Serengeti. Here, the fast-flowing waters of the Mara River set the stage for the herds’ desperate dash to reach the rain-soaked plains of Kenya’s Maasai Mara.

Rather than a single event, the river crossings take place over months, at a number of crossing points along the banks of the river — sometimes multiple times a day. Ebbing and flowing with the tide of megaherds as they journey north, crossings can mean thousands of thundering hooves charging the churning water, or a handful of stragglers hoping to avoid the jaws of the crocodiles that lie in wait.