Male Lion Hunts & Eats Hippo Alive During The Great Migration In Masai Mara

This has to be one of the oldest stories ever told, in fact, I’d say, it goes back to the beginning of time, the hunter and the hunted is one of the oldest struggles known to mankind. To some, it may seem cruel and by our standards today, it is, but in the great circle of life, there is always predator and prey and in this wild world only the strong survive.

Know the saying ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’? Well, during the great migration, the grass is indeed greener on the other side. Each year, over two million wildebeest, zebra and other herbivores trek from the southern Serengeti to the lush green grasses of the Masai Mara. Known as one of the seven wonders of the world, the great migration is an iconic safari must-see.

With 1,5 million wildebeest, 400,000 zebra, 12,000 eland and 300,000 Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles trekking from southern Serengeti to the Masai Mara, the ‘great’ in ‘Great Migration’ may be a bit of an understatement. The constant year-long migration is an iconic natural phenomenon, the timing of which depends on environmental factors, the weather and of course, the animals themselves.

In short, the biggest mammal trek in the world follows the rains. The herds travel 800 kilometers clockwise in a circle through the Serengeti and Masai Mara ecosystems in search of greener, mineral rich pastures and water. The animals spend most of the cycle in the Serengeti in Tanzania, but also spend several months trekking the bountiful plains of the Masai Mara.

And as always when these great migrations occur, it is a time of plenty for predators, lions, leopards, Cheetah’s and everyone else down the predator and scavenger list. Like I said at the beginning of the article, it may seems cruel, but each one of these predators need to eat and by thinning the herds of the old, sick and very young, they get to thrive. So, if you are the sensitive-type, maybe you shouldn’t watch the video below.

H/T – masaimara.com