ENDANGERED: Fine Art & Photography Contest 2018 Submission.

Every year the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem becomes the stage of the greater wildlife spectacle on Earth, the annual migration of approximately 1.2 million wildebeest accompanied by more than half a million zebras and Thomson's gazelles.

This is not only the largest mammal migration in the world, but it is also one of the few remaining in our planet. This spectacle is critical to the survival of the entire Mara-Serengeti ecosystem. Wildebeests shape the ecosystem as they move. They crop grass and fertilize the land, while many predators depend on them for protein. Unfortunately, many wildebeest populations are in drastic decline. Their dispersal areas and migratory corridors are being lost due to higher human population, and habitat fragmentation. Variations in seasonal flooding and drought is also threatening the area. If nothing is done to protect this million-years-old phenomenon we might soon face the collapse on an entire ecosystem that depends on these animals for their survival.

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