An international team of researchers has documented a previously unknown multi-country migration of Burchell’s zebra (Equus quagga) that is the longest of all recorded large mammal migrations in Africa.
The round-trip, straight-line migration distance covered by several thousand Burchell’s zebras is greater than that covered by wildebeests during their well-known seasonal journey in Serengeti. Image credit: Haplochromis / CC BY-SA 3.0.
“This discovery of endurance in an age dominated by humans, where we think we know most everything about the natural world, underscores the importance of continued science and research for conservation,” said Dr Robin Naidoo of WWF, the first author of a paper published in the journal Oryx.
Using GPS collars on eight adult Burchell’s zebras, Dr Naidoo and his colleagues tracked two consecutive years of movement back and forth between the Chobe River in Namibia and Botswana’s Nxai Pan National Park, a straight-line distance of 250 km (500 km round-trip).
The discovery comes at a time when migrations of a diverse range of species around the world are increasingly imperiled, and zebra migrations in other parts of Africa have been disrupted by physical barriers such as fences.
The potential conservation implications of the study are considerable. The observed migration takes place entirely within the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area – the world’s largest multi-country conservation area. Spanning 109 million acres across Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Angola, the area exemplifies the kind of large landscape conservation approach that will be necessary to preserve the world’s remaining great terrestrial migrations.
“The findings of this study emphasize the importance of trans-frontier conservation areas in conservation of the greater landscape. This study has played a crucial role in helping determine a key wildlife corridor in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area,” said team member Dr Pierre Du Preez from Namibia’s Ministry of Environment & Tourism.
“At a time when conservation news is inherently rather negative, the discovery of this unknown natural phenomenon should resonate with people around the world. The government’s commitment to secure key migratory corridors serves to underpin the growing wildlife tourism industry,” said team member Dr Mike Chase from the Elephants without Borders, Botswana.
“We plan to continue monitoring the migration to try and conserve such increasingly rare natural events.”
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R. Naidoo et al. A newly discovered wildlife migration in Namibia and Botswana is the longest in Africa. Oryx, published online May 27, 2014; doi: 10.1017/S0030605314000222
