- The Masai Mara is a large game reserve in the Narok County, Kenya.
- It is contiguous (joined) with Serengeti National Park
- The reserve is named in honour of the Masai people and their description of the area when looked from afar.
- Mara means spotted in the ‘Maa Language’ due to many trees that dot the vast plains.
- It is a world – renowned for its exceptional population of wildlife.
- Masai Mara is home to many species of animals such as lions leopards and elephants.
- It is extremely famous for the annual migration of wildebeest.
The Great Migration
- No-one can fail to be moved by the great migration, the world’s yearly movement of large mammals to and from Serengeti to Mara.
- It involves 1,500,000 (1.5 million) wildebeest, 200,000 zebra, 320,000 thomson gazelle, and 20,000 topi!
When Did The World Know?
- In the 1950’s, Bernard and Michael Grizimek began to count the wildebeest in Serengeti.
- While they were counting, the came across thousands and thousands of wildebeest crossing the Mara river and they named this phenomenon – The Great Migration.
- Bernard then published it in the newspaper and now the Serengeti and Masai Mara are visited by millions of people each year.
Why Does It Occur?
- Over many thousands of years, just as birds migrate, so do mammals.
- The animals move according to the rain. If its raining in Serengeti, the wildebeest will be in Mara. When its the dry season in Mara, the wildebeest will naturally cross the Mara River and move to Serengeti.
