TANZANIA NATIONAL PARKS
PRESS
RELEASE
Deaths of
Wildebeest in Mara River a natural phenomenon
On 28th
September, 2015 Africa Geographic website run 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 animals 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
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