Why Impala spices up Wildlife Viewing on a Uganda Safari

Facts about Impala

The Impala whose scientific name is ‘Aepyceros melampus’ weighs between 100-140 pounds and in East Africa it’s mainly found in the savannah and light woodland usually very close to water. A mature Impala is between 27-38 inches tall its life span is 13 years. They have a reddish-brown body with white hair inside their ears, on the chin and over the eyes. Along their middle of the lower bottom runs a narrow black line and black stripe on the back of each thigh. This makes the Impala look so attractive and if found grazing on grass on the plane, one may wonder how God decorated this browser animal. The gestation period of an Impala is between 6-7 months.

Lifestyle of an Impala

An Impala is one of the most social, humble mammals in the wild and easily adapt to the prevailing environmental conditions. Unlike other animals, Impalas can survive in times of famine since they have two stomachs and can store food in one of the stomach for future use. Usually while they are in planes, males set up territories and control them, this is common when food is in plenty. These territories are made out of dung heaps and the male Impalas are seen standing with erect postures, rubbing scent from face glands in these territories. The female Impala and the young ones just follow the males and don’t go beyond their specific territories. The females form herds and wander in and out of the male territories but still the males try to herd them back to the center.

It’s very hard to distinguish between a male and a female Impala because of their body shape. Their bodies are almost the same and the only difference is that the females don’t have horns.

Giving birth

When its time for mating, the males make a lot of noise, making a sound like that of a lion’s roar or a dog’s bark. After the activity, the males look exhausted in that they cannot hold their territories for nearly a month. After about 7months the female gives birth and this is done through pain. The female leave the herd when they are about to give birth and seeks a secluded spot to bear her fawn. She eats the afterbirth and cleans the fawn after giving birth. The mother stays with the fawn for a few days or even leaves it lying out for a week before returning to the herd. If there are other fawns in the herd she may take her fawn to the others and live together and form a nursery group. This is done because it’s very hard for predators to pick from the nursery group. The young Impalas grow very fast and suckle for about 6 months after which they start to graze on grass.

Although Impalas keep themselves in territories, they are always attacked by their predators such as; lions, hyenas, hunting dogs, and leopards. This has led to a great depletion of Impalas in East Africa.