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Ranked: Land Animals With Longest Migrations

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Visualizing Land Animals’ Longest Terrestrial Migrations

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Some land animals embark on epic migration journeys, covering hundreds of kilometers over time as they move between feeding grounds, safer habitats with fewer predators, and their home ranges.

This graphic visualizes the longest known land animal terrestrial migrations in kilometers.

The data comes from the study “Longest terrestrial migrations and movements around the world” by Joly, K., Gurarie, E., Sorum, M.S. et al. published in 2019.

Methodology

The longest migration distance was used for each species, and the years observed for the various animals ranged from 1980 to 2017.

Migration distances were calculated using straight-line, round-trip distances between key migratory endpoints, without considering terrain or obstacles.

Which Animal Has The Longest Recorded Migration?

Below, we show the longest known land animal migrations.

SpeciesLongest Round-Trip Migration Distance (km)
Caribou1,350
Reindeer1,200
Gray wolf1,016
Mule deer772
Tibetan antelope700
Blue wildebeest650
Mongolian gazelle600
Burchell’s zebra588
Bison483
Pronghorn435
White-eared kob400
Moose392

Caribous from the Bathurst herd (named after the herd’s traditional calving grounds in Nunavut) and Porcupine herd (Yukon/Alaska) recorded the longest terrestrial migration at 1,350 km.

Caribous typically have the longest migrations out of all land animals, with various herds (Bathurst, Porcupine, Leaf River, Western Arctic, and Qamanirjuaq) dominating the first five spots for longest migrations.

Caribou herds typically migrate seasonally between the Arctic tundra and forested regions, seeking safe calving (birthing) grounds in spring in the Arctic and richer feeding areas in summer.

The study noted that that while caribou likely do exhibit the longest terrestrial migrations on the planet, over the course of a year, gray wolves move the most.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To read up on more animal facts, check out this graphic that visualizes the resting heart rate range of various animals.

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