People from all over the world can now witness the great migration of Serengeti wildebeest in Africa this fall as a team of wildlife experts is set to air the event live through online video streaming.
Discover Africa.com, the company behind the HerdTracker web-app, will broadcast the migration of over one million wildebeest and around 200,000 gazelle, zebra, impala and eland from the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.
The event can be viewed twice a day, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 5, through Youtube as well as the video streaming app Periscope. Each broadcast is around 10 to 20 minutes long.
According to the organizers, the real time video feed will be accompanied by commentary from wildlife experts, and those watching the event can send their questions which will be answered by the commentators on the spot.
The Serengeti wildebeest migration is considered to be one of the largest and most well-known migrations of terrestrial mammals in the world. It is included in the list of the Seven Natural Wonders in Africa.
The wildlife event typically begins in June and runs through until October. It involves remarkable crossings of the Mara River where the animals often risk their lives in order to stampede through the water. While most of the wildebeest make out alive, some are attacked by crocodiles during the river crossings.
Stampedes among the wildebeest are often deadly, with HerdTracker documenting the outcome of one stampede that killed thousands of the animals and describing it as part of the natural course of nature.
Andre Van Kets, a representative of Herdtracker, said it is similar to a real-life version of the animated movie The Lion King.
He explained that their goal is to show people that the wildebeest migration is nature at work and not just a scene from the Disney film.
Carel Verhoef, founder of HerdTracker, said there is no excuse for people not to witness the wildlife event.
He said that while they have seen the great migration of the animals for 10 to 12 years already, it is exciting every time.
HerdTracker makes use of a portable satellite dish to carry out the first live feed of the migration to the world. It is only one of two organizations using the Periscope streaming app from Africa.
