COMMON NAME: Impala
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Aepyceros melampus
TYPE: Mammals
DIET: Herbivore
SIZE: Height at the shoulder: 33 to 39 inches
WEIGHT: 88 to 165 pounds
They incredibly fast and speeds of 74 to 90km/h have been recorded.
Impalas are medium-sized antelopes that roam the savanna and light woodlands of eastern and southern Africa. In the rainy season, when food is plentiful, they may gather in large herds of several hundred animals to browse on grasses and herbs, bushes, shrubs, and shoots.
Escaping Predators
Herds offer protection from predators, such as lions. An alert impala will bark out an alarm that puts the entire herd to flight—and a fleeing impala is no easy prey.
Impalas are fleet runners who are able to leap distances of up to 33 feet. They use this technique to escape predators and sometimes, apparently, simply to amuse themselves. The impala can also clear bushes and other obstacles by soaring some 10 feet in the air. Typically, a running impala will simply jump over anything in its path.
Mating and Reproduction
This graceful antelope is known for its long, spiral horns, which males use to challenge each other in tests of strength. Older impala males stake out mating territories and herd groups of females that they jealously guard against any rivals. During this exhausting mating period, the male must fight off challengers, herd his females, and mate with them. Unsuccessful bids to take over a male's territory usually end with the loser retreating to join a bachelor herd.
Females typically give birth about seven months after they mate, usually to a single impala. Both mother and baby join a herd of females and offspring within a few days.
Charging across the savannah come the fastest antelope species in Africa.
Tsessebe gallop with a peculiar gait, springbok hop as much as they run, and Thomson’s gazelle zigzag away from cheetahs.
African antelope will always provide beautiful moments on safari. It is even more impressive when you see the fastest antelopes in Africa running at high speed.
Swirls of dust follow their journeys. You must always look to see why the antelope are running so fast.
Encounter high-speed African antelope and there is a good chance they are running from danger, so you know to look for predators that lurk nearby.
In this article we celebrate some of the fastest antelope species in Africa. You will learn how fast these antelope can run, along with where to see them galloping in the wild.
Impala are born to run. In fact, speed is their only real defence against predators. In contrast to Thomson’s gazelle, impalas hang out around woodlands, often where woodland meets more open savannah.
These elegant antelopes are very fast at running through trees. They are agile and nimble, so they can comfortably outwit their hunters.
Impala are capable of running at 80 km/h for significant distances, making them one of the fastest antelope species in Africa.
You can view common impala all over East and Southern Africa
Impalas are usually encountered in ecotone regions or transitional zones between two habitats such as grassland and woodland. Impala females and their young live in breeding herds or ‘clans’ throughout the year ranging in numbers of 30-120 animals. Male offspring share their mothers’ home range but begin to wander more widely as they mature. Bachelor associations are common for safety purposes but males become fiercely intolerant of one another in the presence of estrous females during the ‘rut’, defending small territories through direct challenges and vocal roaring and snorting sounds directed at nearby males.
Safety in numbers is an important factor for Impalas as they are often preyed upon by a host of predators. They can often be seen associating with many other animals including Zebras, Warthogs, even Baboons. These associations are often as a result of a shared food source but they do benefit from shared vigilance and warning in these groups. Impalas have excellent senses, with large ears detecting sounds easily and large eyes positioned on the side of the head for good peripheral vision. If danger is detected they will give off a loud alarm snort to warn others nearby.
They are a very athletic antelope able to execute jumps of 2 m high and 10 m in distance. Which suites their wooded environment, as they can easily clear shrubs and bushes in flight, sometimes employ a ‘rocking horse gait’.Rocking their body backward and forwards while jumping to supposedly display health and fitness to their pursuer in an effort to dissuade a further pursuit from a predator. As mentioned, group cohesion is very important as it decreases an individual’s chances of being eaten.
As such Impalas have clear contrasting black and white markings on their rear end which is easy to focus on while running, allowing for the group to stay together in flight. They also have scent glands on their lower rear legs. Unique to Impalas these glands are said to release scent trails as the animal runs or moves, enabling lost individuals to find the company or to aid regrouping after a scare.
Impalas are fastidious groomers and spend a large amount of time on their personal hygiene which is evident by their shiny coats. Allo-grooming or reciprocal grooming of one another is also practiced in the herds. They are also the smallest antelope that will allow the Oxpecker birds to assist in grooming. The reason for all the fuss their habitat preference of ecotones as these transitional areas usually see high animal traffic which results in high parasite loads on those living in these areas.
Impalas are mixed feeders that feed on whatever food source is best seasonally. This gives them a huge advantage over other antelopes that either just grazes on grass or just browses leaves. In the summers usually, a higher percentage of green grass is eaten as it is more protein-rich with less secondary compounds to digest, and in winter months a higher percentage of browsing is done, usually with a preference to Vachellea (previously known as Acacia) trees.
One of the Impalas most successful strategies to remain numerous is its breeding strategy. The shorter day, at the start of autumn, triggers a testosterone rise in the bodies of mature male Impalas. They separate from their group associations and rigorously compete with one another to set up territories with access to good recourses being a priority. Vocal ‘rutting’ spaces males from one another and direct challenges and horn clashes establish dominance.
Females are often herded into these territories by males who circle the groups in a ‘sheepdog herding’ style. All this behavior will induce the adult females into estrous, where mating follows. Males only hold a territory with females for a short period of time as they weaken from the constant territorial behavior and lack of feeding.
This ensures a good spread of genes amongst the groups as only the strongest get to mate. In Early summer females give birth to young lambs after 6, 5-month gestation. The synchronized lambing sees such a sudden influx of young Impalas that the predators simply cannot eat them all, and allows for many to survive and to add to the population.
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