Did you know that there is another annual migration in Africa that is just as awe inspiring as the annual migration in East Africa? The annual zebra migration in Botswana is also fabulously impressive due to its scale and a sight not to be missed.
Every year 25,000 zebra move en masse in search of fresh new grasslands over hundreds of kilometres from the Okavango Delta to the Makgadikgadi Plains. And of course where there are herbivores moving en masse there are also carnivores a plenty. The annual migration in Botswana is not nearly as well known as that of Tanzania and Kenya but although much smaller it is just as spectacular and the perfect time to go game viewing in Botswana. You are likely to see plenty of lions, hyenas and even some cheetah. If you are really lucky you might even see the endangered wild African hunting dog which has one of its last remaining strongholds in Botswana.
The Kalahari is a fantastic place to view game at any time of the year but the migration means that you have a much better chance of seeing some really exceptional game hunting its prey. The downside of course is that it will also likely be raining! The new seasons rains start falling create new lush grassland in the Makgadikgadi Plains which triggers off the migration and the mass movement of the grazing animals from the river delta. The plains are salt and mineral rich so that when the grass grows it is dense in nutrients and the animals move to graze by instinct in these areas. Unfortunately when the rains will start is very hard to predict but generally it is usually either October or November when the rains begin and the migration occurs.
The zebra migration had not really been appreciated until recently when researchers discovered through radio tracking various zebra that they did in fact cover huge distances when travelling between the Okavango Delta and the Makgadikgadi Plains before travelling back again. Michael Chase who is the founder of Elephants without Borders has been tracking various animals and their movements in order to encourage understanding about the movements of many of Africa’s endangered species. He has been looking at how many cross national and regional borders and move from protected conservation areas into hunting and farming lands and how this creates conflict. Most of the large herbivores such as elephants and many of the antelope, zebra and wildebeest need huge swathes of land protected for their migrations and their very survival. And because the herbivores are on the move so are the predators and they too need the large swathes of land along migration routes protected in order to survive.
Chase has recently discovered another significant zebra migration route this time running from north to south in Botswana, from Chobe and Linyanti down to the Nxai Pan and back again. Conservationist and tourist leaders are hoping that these new discoveries will help create bigger conservation zones and will lead to more tourism in the area which will help the local economies and also protect the conservation efforts in the area. If tourism can prove more lucrative than hunting or farming in the area then the conservation zones can be created and protected in the future.
