Top 10 Amazing Mass Animal Migrations!

Every single year, billions of animals, large and small, take on epic journeys via water, air and land. Weather to mate, search for food, or move to a warmer climate, these journeys are often fraught with danger but are ultimately rewarding.

We’ll show you that animals go to extraordinary lengths to ensure the survival of their species. Covering topics like the Monarch Butterfly, the Pink Flamingo, and the Emperor Penguin...brought to you by Zero2Hero.

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Number 10: monarch butterflies.
Yes, I said butterflies…Each year, millions of butterflies travel south for the winter. The only insect migration of its kind sees these creatures cover large distances as they search for a more temperate climate.
Flying from the Rocky Mountains in the USA and Canada they travel south to Mexico. And, strangely, if they are from the eastern states of the US they travel west to Pacific Grove California, a journey of around 2,500 miles.
When they arrive, exhausted, they look for trees to hibernate in. In Mexico, they choose the Oyamel Fir trees, covering them completely in a blanket of bright orange butterflies, and in California, they choose Eucalyptus trees.
Traveling around 50-100 miles a day, flying at speeds of 15-20 mph, these butterflies use thermal air currents to help them along, as it can take them 2 months to finally reach their destination. But that’s not the end of it either, as they travel all the way back to whence they came…once the winter is over!

Number 9: The Sardine Run.
Moving from the air to the sea, the Sardine Run is a huge gathering of, believe it or not…sardines, or actually, Southern African Pilchards.

These fish gather in the billions to spawn in the cooler waters of the Agulhas Bank, before moving north along the coast of South Africa towards Mozambique and eventually heading out into the Indian Ocean.
With shoals that are often more than 4 miles long, 1 mile wide and 1000 feet deep, this gathering itself, acts a draw for other far smaller migrations of large ocean hunters on the lookout for a good meal. Creating feeding frenzies wherever these small fish go.
Predators such as sharks, dolphins, and humpback whales all zero in on the billions of fish from below while birds, such as Cape Gannets, attack from above. But these fish gather in such vast numbers that the predators cannot get them all.
And so, spawning in this massive way helps ensure the future of the species.

Number 8: Green Sea Turtles.
Staying in the salty blue, but this time following thousands of endangered Green Sea Turtles. As each year the female turtles return to the beaches they were hatched on.
For some this means returning to Costa Rica’s tortuguero National Park, for others it’s the remote islands along the great barrier reef.
Regardless of where they are heading, they will all travel great distances through the dangerous open ocean to locate the very beaches that they swam into the oceans from when they hatched. They haul themselves up onto the beach, find a suitable location, dig a hole and lay up to 100 eggs, before burying them safely away and slipping back into the ocean.
Again, in doing this they are putting themselves at risk, because just like with the sardines, their predators also know of this event and the female turtles are often met by the ragged teeth of sharks.
But so long as their eggs are safe, it’s all worth it once they hatch.
Number 7: wildebeest.
Driven by a need to eat, up to 1.5 million wildebeest follow the rains across Africa each year, they are often joined in this endeavour by thousands of zebra and numerous other herds of grazing animals. I’ll wait for you to finish singing the Toto song in your head…or maybe it was Ninja Sex Party?
Anyway, they arrive shortly after the rains fall on the southern Serengeti in November and December. Feeding on the fresh green grass they will stay in this location until around March. But keep in mind that most of the females had calves in February, drawing a lot of attention from the lionesses, leopards and cheetahs on the plains. As their newborns gain strength and the grasses begin to die off the herds start their journey north in April and May.
By June the animals reach start to hit some dangerous parts of their journey, the Grumeti River, while at this time of year is mainly pools it only slows the progress of the herds and is another area where predators will lay in wait. By September as they continue to travel even further north they hit the Mara River, causing them serious problems. The young face the risk of being dragged away in the swollen river by the currents and drowning, but there are also hundreds of crocodiles waiting for an easy meal.