When wildebeest are crossing the Mara River the air is filled with their calls and their tension is almost tangible. They gather, feed and rest before starting to cross. They know it needs strength to get to the other side and they need safety in numbers. They attempt to cross in single file, one animal right after the other to let them appear as one animal to the crocodiles, trying to make it harder for the crocodiles to single out a wildebeest for an attack. This strategy is challenged by the obstacles they encounter. The entry and exit points are slippery and rocky and during low water levels there are exposed rocks in the river they need to navigate. The more animals have crossed the more muddy and treacherous the exit points become and animals get stuck, blocking others from getting out. Dramatic scenes can unfold, yet the animals find ways to care for each other. When an exit becomes blocked or too difficult to navigate they change directions, which releases the pressure on the animals that are already in these exits, giving them the space to reassess the situation and find a way to get up on the river bank. Animals that got stuck in the mud get a chance to free themselves and make it out. This footage is witness to how the wildebeest take pressure of an exit point where two animals, a mother and a youngster are stuck in the mud and how the other animals, once the pressure has been released, take a moment to check with them and try not to step on them while trying to get out and out of the way. Both, mother and youngster made it out.
