That being said, I guess we could reconstruct the old saying to read:
"No gnus is bad news"
* You gotta' say it out loud for it to make sense.
Posted on 10/03/2007 2:39:24 PM PDT by blam
10,000 Wildebeest Drown in Migration "Pileup"
Blake de Pastino
National Geographic News
October 1, 2007
In a bizarre mishap that conservationists describe as "heartbreaking," an estimated 10,000 wildebeest have drowned while attempting to cross Kenya's Mara River during an annual migration.
The deaths, which occurred over the course of several days last week, are said to account for about one percent of the total species population.
The drownings created a grotesque wildlife pileup, after part of the migrating herd tried to ford the Mara at "a particularly treacherous crossing point," according to Terilyn Lemaire, a conservation worker with the Mara Conservancy who witnessed the incident. (See a photo gallery of the mass drowning.)
The first animals into the river failed to cross and drowned, while others continued to stampede into the water behind them, Lemaire told National Geographic News by email.
"Once they jumped into the water, they were unable to climb up either embankment onto land and, as a result, got swept up by the current and drowned," she said.
Some 2,000 wildebeest drowned at the crossing in a single afternoon, Lemaire estimated.
"There was no unusual flooding at the time, and there seems to be no extraneous circumstances to these deaths," she said.
"The wildebeest merely chose a crossing point that was too steep."
Drowning deaths are not uncommon during the migration, Lemaire added, but her organization has never witnessed fatalities on this scale.
"It is customary every year for the wildebeest to pick a particularly treacherous crossing point and for there to be a significant die-off," she said, "but the number of deaths during these crossings almost never exceeds one thousand."
Fatal Migration
More than a million wildebeest undertake an epic migration every year in late summer, leaving their calving grounds in the Serengeti Plain of Tanzania to seek greener pastures in Kenya to the north.
The animals, also known as gnu, journey some 2,000 total miles (3,200 kilometers) each year, often joined by thousands of zebras and Thomson's gazelles.
The deaths occurred at Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve, as the herd was beginning its swing to the east on its way back to the Serengeti.
Since the drownings, the animals' bodies have washed downriver, beaching on the Mara's muddy banks and getting caught under a nearby bridge, Lemaire wrote on her blog for the nonprofit WildlifeDirect.
The remains formed what she described as "pungent islands of bloated carcasses."
"The crocodiles, storks, and vultures have not had to worry about where to find their next meal," she wrote.
"Those that aren't consumed will be left and will eventually decompose in the water. These thousands of carcasses will undoubtedly affect the health of the water, but to what extent, only time will tell."
Lemaire also declined to speculate, in her email to National Geographic News, on the impact the mass deaths might have on the wildebeests' overall population health.
"I would imagine that such a significant decrease in population would have an effect," she said, "but what that effect would be and to what extent, I cannot say."
Hey Mugabe...... come an get it!!
Actually, this isn’t unlike the usage of the I-94 south bound out of Chicago during construction season.
They know its jammed in front of them.
They still turn down the ramps.
Once down there, they can’t get back out.
Everyone is drowning in 5 mile per hour traffic.
Another great commute in the big City.
That being said, I guess we could reconstruct the old saying to read:
"No gnus is bad news"
* You gotta' say it out loud for it to make sense.
Well that's gnus to me.
Yep, that'll nail down her getting the PETA vote, for sure.
Leni
Smarter wildebeests?
Interesting. I had the same sensation three summers ago when I downtown and discovered the Democrat state convention was being held there.
“pungent islands of bloated carcasses.”
So that’s where Ted Kennedy is these days.
Be careful about following a fool!!!
Chuckle, I kill myself!
LOL!!
LOL ... good ‘un.
Gonna be a bumper crop of fat crocs and vultures.
In looking at the pic, I am sure I see “I am a gnu, not a Hsu” stickers on them.
If only their had been an HOV lane!
AWESOME!!
Best post of the thread!
Evolution is heartless and merciless. Evolution punishes mistakes without an ounce of pity. If the entire wildebeest population had died this way, then that's life in the big evolutionary city. Either you believe in natural selection or you don't. If you do, then there's no such thing as "heartbreaking."
There's no crying in evolution.
LUNCH!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.