Mass Migration
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Which of our animal friends migrate in the largest groups?
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A.
Travelling with even a handful of other humans can be challenging. This one wants to do everything together. That one is immovable on itinerary. Now, imagine setting out on a great journey with even thousands of your nearest and dearest. Sure, you’re less vulnerable to bad actors, but imagine the politics.
Which animals travel in the most impressive throng?
The Blue Wildebeest
The mass is hard to imagine, but Guinness World Records awards the Greatest Land Migration to the blue wildebeest who move in a wave of 1 to 2 million between Tanzania to Kenya and through the Mara River. And if that isn’t overwhelming, the wildebeest wagon will pick up hordes of antelopes, gazelles, and zebras along the way.
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What are some other facts about the Connochaetes Taurinus?
• The collective name for blue wildebeests is a ‘confusion.’ Best not to get in the way of a confusion of a million wildebeests.
• Blue wildebeests are finicky herbivores. Their preferred meal? Grass shoots. Lucky for them, the dazzle of zebras that travel with them in the ‘Great Migration’ are more than happy to expose the shoots after munching through the long grass above.
• The majority of wildebeests – as many as 400,000 – are born between January and March. The wee ‘gnus’ can stand up and move soon after birth.
• Despite their collective pounding across the lands, thousands of wildebeests will die in the Great Migration. Threats include hunger, injury, drowning and predators like crocodiles, lions, cheetahs, and hyenas.
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Header Image: Getty Images
