Over six million hooves pound the famed Serengeti’s boundless plains each year. More over a million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra, and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle congregate each year, triggered by the seasonal rains, to begin their long journey to new grazing sites. The yearly wildebeest rut is a three-week frenzy of territorial conquests and mating, followed by survival of the fittest as the 40-kilometer-long columns plunge through crocodile-infested waters on their way north. The species is replenished by a temporary population explosion that produces over 8,000 calves every day before the 1,000-kilometer trek resumes.

The Serengeti, Tanzania’s earliest and most famous park, is known for its abundance of leopards and lions. The Serengeti’s enormous stretches provide a safe haven for the endangered black rhino and a safe breeding habitat for the vulnerable cheetah, among the Serengeti’s tens of thousands of other species, ranging from 500 distinct bird species to 100 different types of dung beetle.