Research overview: wildebeest migration and predator satiation

A survey of how the synchronized mass calving and movement of migratory wildebeest may swamp predators, reducing per-capita predation on any individual. By giving birth in a brief, highly synchronized pulse and aggregating in vast numbers, wildebeest can satiate resident lions, cheetahs and hyenas that cannot increase quickly enough or follow the herds, so a smaller fraction of calves is killed than if births were spread out. This overview synthesizes the predator-satiation hypothesis, evidence from the Serengeti on calving synchrony and predation rates, and how migration decouples prey abundance from local predator numbers. It connects prey reproductive strategy to predator functional and numerical responses. The topic illustrates how prey can exploit predator constraints through synchrony and movement to reduce predation losses.