From oceans to deserts: why these animals travel long distances every year

People often travel from one place to another for many reasons – better living conditions, better schools for their children, more pleasant weather or simply to explore new cities or countries. But have you ever thought about animals? Do they stay in one place all their lives or do they also migrate and travel to new places? Well, they do! Some amazing animals travel hundreds or even thousands of kilometers each year, crossing harsh and dangerous environments such as oceans, deserts and rivers. If you want to learn more about these amazing creatures and the surprising reasons behind their long journeys, read on!
Arctic Tern

The Arctic Tern is a unique bird and is famous for its incredible migration, traveling up to 44,000 miles each year. This beautiful bird travels from the Arctic, where it breeds in the summer, to Antarctica for the winter and then back again. As a result, the tern spends most of its life in places with sufficient daylight and food. His long journey helps him avoid the harsh northern winter and find food in both polar regions, making him one of the world’s most amazing animal migrants.
Wildebeest

Wildebeest are known for their role in the “Great Migration,” considered one of the most intense and significant wildlife movements in Africa. Millions of wildebeest travel more than 1,600 miles across the Serengeti and Masai Mara in Kenya each year in search of food and water. They migrate because of the seasonal rains that bring new grass to the plains, but they face many challenges along the way. They face predators such as lions and crocodiles and cross dangerous rivers.
Zebras

Here’s a fun fact you may not have known! Zebras often migrate alongside wildebeests during the Great Migration, although they typically don’t travel very far – about 500 miles. Their unique black and white stripes help them blend into the grasslands and avoid predators as they move. Zebras may not travel as far as wildebeest, but they are an important part of the migration.
caribou

Caribou, also known as reindeer, are popularly known for their long migrations in the arctic and subarctic regions of North America. These majestic animals are known to travel hundreds of miles, sometimes over 1,000 miles, each year to find sufficient food and reach ideal breeding sites. In the summer, the caribou head north into the tundra to give birth and feed on fresh plants. As winter approaches, they move south again to find food and warmer conditions.
Emperor penguins

Emperor penguins are rare and majestic animals with a very different style of migration. Instead of traveling to warmer places, they travel through the icy Antarctica to reach ideal breeding grounds. They have been known to travel up to 75 miles to find a place to breed, where males stay behind to incubate eggs in the freezing cold while females return to the sea to feed. The journey is tough, with extreme cold and very little food, but the penguins are well adapted to surviving in these harsh conditions.