Nomad Tanzania Wildebeest Migration Report

Migration Update - 21st February 2009

by nomad

21 February 2009

The last couple of weeks have been extremely good for game sightings and for the Migration throughout the short grass plains area. The regular scattered showers have kept the game in the area and encouraged the nutrient rich grass to grow up. The last few days have seen a general drying up but this is a standard, regular cycle throughout the green season. The weather forecast predicts some good showers in the early days of this coming week which should keep the main herds in the general area.

This has definitely not been a good green season so far, in terms of amount of rain needed and we are all concerned about the dry season, if the rains do not fulfil their promise by the time they peter out towards the end April/beginning of May.

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Migration Update - 3rd February 2009

by nomad

3 February 2009

There have been heavy showers across the short and medium grass plains area over the last 10 days that have changed the Migration picture quite considerably. The weather forecast shows the rain easing off in the next three days but returning again at the weekend. It looks like the long drought period we have experienced since the unseasonal showers in Oct/Nov has now broken. This will provide much needed relief not just for the game but also for the communities surrounding the National Parks where competition for the small amount of grazing and water was intense. The Maasai have already lost many cattle in these months and will now be happy to move the herds back to their permanent homesteads near their villages

The game started moving back into the Ndutu/Gol/Loliondo areas with the first showers. It never takes long for the grass to green up and the first flush is very nutrient rich. The Migration has likewise moved back into its preferred short grass plain habitat. We would expect the Migration to stay around in this area until the next long dry spell

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