Whereupon the new mothers immediately lick and begin to nudge the calf into a sitting position. Within minutes the still wet calf is trying to gain its wobbly feet to suckle.
Hyenasi travel huge distances and often at this time of the year and stay within striking distance of the big herds for days on end. They only travel back to a den if they have one, every few days.
They are found on the plains quite easily as a vast audience of thirsty wildebeests and zebras usually gather to gaze longingly at the waterhole the hyenas choose to spend the day in.
Egyptian Geese share the territory without too much trouble but with a lot of loud honking when the muddy predators move or competing geese try to take over the waterhole for their own.
Jackals detouring on their way home after a night.s hunting will cause the hyenas to look up and the geese to fly up as they enjoy the reputation of being fearless, curious and playful. A combination watched carefully by all other species.

Huge and isolated rain storms, sweeping across the Serengeti and Ngorongoro are driving the annual wildebeest migration out of the woodlands onto the plains.
The first calves were sighted in late January on the short grass plains of the Conservation Area. While the male herds graze in the distance, the females face the drama of giving birth and getting their new calf to its feet and running before the ever present predators are alerted to the fact.
The females often overcome this difficult task by delaying a birth until hyenas have moved off to rest for the day. It is not an uncommon sight to see females in a herd slowly moving with two tiny hooves sticking out from underneath their tails.
In February as the plains have become flooded with the birthing herds, daybreak is the perfect time to quietly sit on the top of your 4X4 and watch numbers of females, gently kneel on their front legs in preparation of lying on their sides, convulsing their ballooning bellies and slipping the new born onto the dew covered grass.

... Ngorongoro Conservation Area has started the New Year of 2008 with the promise of 'the rains', as they are known here, which transform the dry plains and dusty trees to a verdant garden of grass and herbs within days. With the first flush of green comes the brilliant burst of crimson color from the Fire Ball Lily (Scadoxus multiflorus), appearing before even its thick leaves break the surface.
Another early flower, the leaves of which are a dull grey-green and lie close to the ground, produces a spectacular bell shaped pink striped lily, commonly known as the Pajama Lily (Crinum macowanii), which appears after overnight rains and always delight.
The plains and woodlands are flooded with new plant life and new wildlife every change of season. Exotic mushrooms fight their way out of a baked crust barely wetted by the first rains, to inch up spreading their highly colored and toxic heads. Some explode with the mid-day sun shooting their spoor far and wide to lie in wait for right conditions during the never ending cycle of dry to wet.