Wildebeest migration tracking… there’s an app for that

We’ve featured the wildebeest migration on the Traveller’s Blog before with some cool videos and tips but get this, now there’s an app to help travellers track the migration which will certainly up the odds of spotting it while you’re exploring Africa’s plains.

You’d think it would be relatively easy to track down a million animals, all travelling at the same time to the same place. But it’s not. The Serengeti, where the wildebeest migration takes place, is the size of Holland and even a group of a million wildebeest can be hard to find sometimes. That’s why there’s an app!

Safari tour operator, Discover Africa, has just launched a new web app that enables the migration to be tracked online in real-time. It’s called Herdtracker and uses Google maps to show instant updates on the migration’s progress on its year-round journey between Tanzania and Kenya. The trip covers an astonishing 1,200 miles and travellers flock to the Serengeti and Masai Mara every spring to catch the impressive migration.

The info for the map is provided by pilots who fly over the Serengeti an the Masai Mara in Kenya, as well as from safari groups from on the ground and park rangers and lodges in both Tanzanian and Kenyan wildlife reserves. It will no doubt become an essential tool for travellers booking flights to Kenya to know where exactly to meet the migration during their safari holiday.

Discover Africa co-founded Andre Van Kets commented,

“It’s an incredible tool. It allows you not only to track the great migration in real time, but also predicts where the herds will be at the time of your visit.”

Check out HerdTracker online to see where the migration is headed this week.

Have you ever been on an African safari? Did you spot any wildebeest?

Imgs: ganesh_raghunathan, snake3yes, sankaracs, gcode / Flickr cc.