German scientist, Dr. Bernhard Grzimek, and his son Michael conducted the first aerial census of Serengeti animals in 1959. They divided the Serengeti into 32 districts using landmarks as boundaries. In areas where no landmarks were distinguishable, they dropped bags of lime and used the white spots as indicators. Flying at an altitude of 320 feet at 120 miles per hour, they counted and identified types of animals in 550-yard strips on both sides of the plane. In areas where animals were densely populated, they reduced their altitude to 160 feet and flew at only 30 miles per hour.
