Drowning Wildebeest

Drowning Wildebeest 

Sandy Flores

The mass migration of wildebeest is one of the most iconic sights of Africa, but due to river crossings many of this creature has drowned or got eaten by other predators. Even though for this sad event that happens at the river crossings, these deaths have contributed to the ecosystems. Researchers have been trying to find what kind of nutrients does the carcasses provide for the ecosystems. Half of the biomass from the carcass is bones, which takes 7 years to decay. The meat is consumed by vultures and crocodiles giving them nutrients. When the meat is gone and there is only bone, the bones turn into a film of microbes that feeds fishes and other water dwellers. These carcasses has provided 13 tons of Phosphorus, 25 tons of Nitrogen, and 107 tons of Carbon. Even though these deaths are tragic, only 0.7% die from the herd each year. 

This article was very interesting to read because it show the importance of an wildebeest carcass to an ecosystem and how it helps and adapts. Researching a similar phenomenon with in an animal would be very interesting because you can see how this adapts to our ecosystem. Being able to figure out how a certain animal effects one ecosystem would be intriguing to research.