Deaths of Wildebeest in Mara River a natural phenomenon

Africa Geographic website ran a story with a caption “hundreds of wildebeest found dead in Tanzania”. The website posted a number of pictures taken along Mara river displaying dead wildebeest and went further stating that “…the authorities have been contacted and the exact cause of death has yet to be confirmed”. 

Tanzania National Parks would like to clarify on the story which has also been quoted by other social media as follows: 

Serengeti Wildebeest Migration is an annual natural phenomenon which takes place between Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya where a number of  up to two millions animals mostly wildebeest and zebra move in a clockwise rotational route determined by the availability of grazing and water. 

During the migration a number of catastrophes occur, including disease, predation and accidents which put the livelihood of migrating animals at high risk. Drowning in Mara River is one of the occurrences during the migration in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem and it is estimated that more than 250,000 wildebeest die during the journey. 

Other causes of deaths include stampede and other predators. However, wildebeest deaths during migration are replenished with more than 350,000 births per year. 

In view of the above, Tanzania National Parks would like to inform the public that the deaths are purely natural and not much could be done to prevent. 

In the National Parks and other protected areas nature is always left to take its own course. 

Issued by 

Corporate Communications Department 

Tanzania National Parks 

29th September, 2015 

dg@tanzaniaparks.com 

www.tanzaniaparks.com