The vast grass plains of the Serengeti support the world's largest concentration of grazing animals. Some, like the Thomson's and Grant's gazelle, find enough food all year 'round to stay in one general vicinity.
There are also many smaller antelope that occupy niches of habitat including long grass, forest and rocky outcrops known as kopje.
The gazelle and other smaller antelope are prey for the cheetah that is agile enough to tackle these fast movers. Cheetah thrive in their family territory all throughout the tear.
Bigger cats roam the Serengeti. The lion establish a territory for their pride. They hunt, breed and raise their young on this land. The lionesses shoulder much of the child rearing and hunting duties while the dominant males protect the pride lands.
The gazelle are too small and nimble to sustain a decent population of lion. They depend on larger prey... Wildebeest, accompanied by zebra move across the Serengeti in massive numbers.
But the wildebeest and zebra are always on the move. There isn't enough feed to sustain them in one place all year... Instead they migrate huge distances, following the rains and the fresh growth it encourages.
Other animals follow the herds to ensure themselves a constant food source.
Life is good while the migration is in a pride's territory, but as the plains dry and the grazers move on, life gets tough. A few months later and the pride is struggling for survival.
The Serengeti supports a huge diversity of life, hunters and grazers alike.
'Goliath" the bull elephant makes the fever tree forest his home.
The bat-eared fox is an insectivore, hunting mainly termites.
The heaviest flying bird in the world, the kori bustard, also makes the Serengeti its home.
Eventually the migration returns to the pride lands, and with it a time of plenty for the hungry lion pride.
The circle of life is complex and eternal on the plains of the Serengeti.
