Migrations are among the natural world's most spectacular phenomena. These jaw-dropping feats of endurance undertaken by huge numbers of animals inspire awe and amazement, as they conquer everything the environment throws at them. Among the most impressive migrations are those of large mammals, perhaps the most famous of all being the journey taken by wildebeest in the Serengeti. Commonly known as the longest of all terrestrial mammal migrations, this enduring annual occurrence is set against a backdrop of disappearing migrations around the world, as the large areas necessary for such movements continue to vanish in a growing sea of human development. Researchers were therefore astonished to discover a migration of plains zebra beginning in the Salambala Conservancy in the Zambezi Region of Namibia. Local community members had reported for years that zebra appeared on the banks of the Chobe River during the dry season to share the land with grazing cattle, only to disappear again at the onset of the rains in December. Where these animals went remained a mystery until 2012, when researchers working independently on the Namibian and Botswana sides of the Chobe River collared a number of zebra with satellite tracking devices. 
They were astounded to discover that the collared animals moved quickly and directly from the Chobe River floodplains south to Nxai Pan National Park in Botswana. This is a journey of over 250 km, yet most of the collared zebra made it in only two weeks. The animals remained in the Nxai Pan area for several months before beginning the journey back to the Chobe River. The return journey northwards was longer and less direct than the southward trip, so we speculate that the zebra lingered around wet pans along the route north that had been dry during their December journey.