A world like no other
Januarymagine thousands of zebras thundering
down a savannah, their stripes shimmering
in the heat. It creates quite the optical illusion,
like an enormous, undulating Magic Eye
image, and is an extraordinary sight, showcased in the
Deserts episode of the recent BBC series Planet Earth II.
Astonished scientists recently discovered that these plains
zebras (the most common of the species) make the longest
migration of all land mammals in Africa. The research team,
including Elephants Without Borders and the World Wide Fund
for Nature (WWF), fitted eight female zebras with satellite-
tracked collars, in order to monitor the herds’ movements.
Tagging the wild zebras was no easy task though. A zebra
kick is so powerful, it can kill a lion, so the animals had to be
sedated and docile before the team could approach them. The
I
best way to do this, they found, was for a vet to lean out of a
helicopter and shoot them with tranquilliser darts.
The study discovered that from early December onwards,
thousands of plains zebras embark on an incredible journey
that begins with them covering 240km in just over a fortnight.
Likely in search of fresh grazing, the herds leave the northern
region of the Chobe River in Namibia, heading south to the
Nxai Pan National Park in Botswana. They stay in the park for
two months, then return to the wetter regions of Namibia for
the dry season. Their journey home makes a round trip of
480km – or the equivalent of the length of Ireland. ‘The
distance covered by these zebras was a total shock to all of us
involved in the study,’ says Robin Naidoo, senior conservation
scientist at the WWF. ‘Nobody knew that something of this
scale, with this much ground covered, was occurring.’To find out more
about the zebras’
migration, visit
wwf.to/2gnmb0zWords: Catherine Gray. Photograph: Alamy