Wild rhythm

摘要

The wildebeest's cycles of breeding and migration on such a masive scale are the driving forces of the Serengeti; For 40 years, it's been one man's mission to push this mammal up the popularity stakes, solve the riddles of its mighty rut - and put iton your coffee-table, too. Richaid Estes points his Land Rover north as the sound of the western Serengeti reverberates faintly in the distant hills. It is "the big hum," as Estes describes it, a basso profundo mating chorus of what sounds like a hybridbetween a cow and a giant bullfrog. In his 76 years, more than half of these spent researching wildebeest and other African mammals, Estes has heard this sound thousands of times, yet this time he knows it is different. When he finally reaches the animals, they are enclosed behind a 2.5m fence, the big hum mooing out of a 25cm speaker