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