Blue wildebeest mini-migration in Limpopo

The blue wildebeest is also known as a gnu for the blowing sound it can make. They can be a noisy bunch, making low moaning sounds, sometimes compared to a frog choir. Alarm is sounded in hoarse snorts.

Often seen in open grassland or near knob thorn trees and not too far from water, Blue wildebeest are dark grey with black beards, manes and tails. Both sexes have horns. The male may be 1,45 m tall at the shoulder, weighing about 250 kg, the female slightly smaller. The blue wildebeest move in herds of 10 to 150 in game reserves and farms of southern Africa where large bovines can still choose routes fairly freely.

In East Africa, Tanzania and Kenya, they are famous for the annual, dry season migration. It usually starts in June when more than 1,5 million blue wildebeest trek over land and river in a spectacular performance of 40 km long herds under huge dust clouds, destroying vegetation and other obstacles in their way.

Other ungulates join the procession, while predators of various ilk follow close by to feed on casualties, as there are no safety precautions or medics on duty. The migration system is rainfall determined, varying the route in a dynamic way.

The event is vital to the ecology of the region, presenting questions about how life was in previously unfenced parts of the world elsewhere, such as the springbok migration of long ago in southern Africa. Only vague reports exist of some such treks, most of which are totally lost in history since the land has almost everywhere become so full of people.

Still, people may remind that blue wildebeest life expectancy is 18 years in the wild and 20 years in captivity. How much older than real lions can moth-eaten lions become? And is that good (Riëtte, 2016)?