Transcript: Hungry Beasts

NARRATOR: Six thousand miles to the south, on the plains of East Africa, storm clouds are gathering. But they no longer bring rain to the Serengeti. The wet season is over. Now, lighting strikes the tinder-dry grasses, bringing fire.

With no fresh grazing here, the herds of wildebeest head northwest for the shores of Lake Victoria where the grass should be greener. Each year, wildebeest trek nearly two thousand miles clockwise, in a great circular route, following the course of the rains.

But their search for grass takes them through the territories of many prides of lion, all of whom have been eagerly waiting their arrival.

These herds are huge—perhaps a million animals. All the hungry lions in their path make little impact on their numbers.

Not so far away and on a much smaller scale, another migration is beginning. ‘Locust hoppers’, young locusts who have not yet developed wings, are also searching for fresh pasture.

Their migration is triggered when their numbers build up and all the food is gone. They have to keep moving to find enough for them all to eat.

But without wings, they can’t travel as far or as fast as the wildebeest, yet.