Drought kills roughly a quarter of the wildebeest population
A prolonged drought in 1993 caused severe starvation; roughly 250,000 of about 1.5 million wildebeest died, and dry-season calf survival fell to around 73% against 98.5% in the wet season. Mduma, Sinclair and Hilborn used this episode as the clearest demonstration that dry-season food, not predation and not the river, regulates the population.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) · species · Tanzania; Kenya · not located
- Serengeti National Park · national park · Tanzania
- Serengeti–Mara Rainfall Gradient · ecological phenomenon · Tanzania; Kenya · not located
Evidence
Verified — Every field is supported by a cited authoritative source.
Food regulates the Serengeti wildebeest: a 40-year record
Dry-season food supply, not predation, regulates the Serengeti wildebeest population — demonstrated across the post-rinderpest irruption, the 1977–1993 plateau and the 1993–94 drought die-off
Journal of Animal Ecology (British Ecological Society) · 1999 · Verified
Mduma S.A.R., Sinclair A.R.E. & Hilborn R. (1999) 'Food regulates the Serengeti wildebeest: a 40-year record', Journal of Animal Ecology 68(6): 1101–1122, doi:10.1046/j.1365-2656.1999.00352.x
Recorded on Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)
- Serengeti National Park established on land used by Maasai pastoralists
- Serengeti closed to residence; Ngorongoro Conservation Area created and Maasai evicted from the plains
- Rinderpest disappears from the Serengeti–Mara ecosystem
- The wildebeest population irrupts from roughly 250,000 to over a million
- The Mara–Loita migration collapses by about 81%
- Edge degradation squeezes wildlife into the ecosystem core
- Serengeti National Park inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List
- Drought kills roughly a quarter of the wildebeest population
- AI satellite survey returns fewer than 600,000, and is contested
- TAWIRI Aerial Point Survey estimates 1,366,109 wildebeest
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- TAWIRI Aerial Point Survey estimates 1,366,109 wildebeest · 2023
- AI satellite survey returns fewer than 600,000, and is contested · 2022–2023 imagery; published 2025
- Serengeti National Park inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List · 1981
- The Mara–Loita migration collapses by about 81% · 1977–2016
- Edge degradation squeezes wildlife into the ecosystem core · c. 1977–2018 (40-year record)
- The wildebeest population irrupts from roughly 250,000 to over a million · 1963–1977
- Rinderpest disappears from the Serengeti–Mara ecosystem · c. 1960–1964
- Serengeti closed to residence; Ngorongoro Conservation Area created and Maasai evicted from the plains · 1959