An annual, three-week-long rut takes place toward the end of the wet season, typically in May. Rutting males fight over dominance , and the victorious male courts female in oestrus. Gestation lasts six to seven months, following which a single calf is born and immediately concealed in cover. Calves are suckled for four to six months; young males—forced out of the all-female groups—join bachelor herds, while females may stay back.
The impala is found in woodlands and sometimes on the interface ecotone between woodlands and savannahs ; it inhabits places close to water. While the black-faced impala is confined to southwestern Angola and Kaokoland in northwestern Namibia , the common impala is widespread across its range and has been reintroduced in Gabon and southern Africa. The International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN classifies the impala as a species of least concern ; the black-faced subspecies has been classified as a vulnerable species , with less than 1, individuals remaining in the wild as of The first attested English name, in , was palla or pallah, from the Tswana phala 'red antelope'; [3] the name impala , also spelled impalla or mpala , is first attested in The scientific generic name Aepyceros lit.
The impala is the sole member of the genus Aepyceros and belongs to the family Bovidae.
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This clade is sister to another formed by the bay duiker Cephalophus dorsalis and the klipspringer Oreotragus oreotragus. Sable antelope Hippotragus niger. Grant's gazelle Nanger granti. Mountain reedbuck Redunca fulvorufula. Up to six subspecies have been described, although only two are generally recognised on the basis of mitochondrial data.
According to Vrba, the impala developed from an alcelaphine ancestor. She noted that while this ancestor has diverged at least 18 times into various morphologically different forms, the impala has continued in its basic form for at least five million years. This implies that the impala has efficiently adapted to its environment since prehistoric times. Its gregarious nature, variety in diet, positive population trend, defence against ticks and symbiotic relationship with the tick-feeding oxpeckers could have played a role in preventing major changes in morphology and behaviour.
The impala is a medium-sized, slender antelope similar to the kob or Grant's gazelle in build. Sexually dimorphic , females are hornless and smaller than males.
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Their arch-like structure allows interlocking of horns, which helps a male throw off his opponent during fights; horns also protect the skull from damage. Facial features include white rings around the eyes and a light chin and snout. The ears, 17 centimetres 6. Sebaceous glands concentrated on the forehead and dispersed on the torso of dominant males [17] [20] are most active during the mating season, while those of females are only partially developed and do not undergo seasonal changes.
Of the subspecies, the black-faced impala is significantly larger and darker than the common impala; melanism is responsible for the black colouration. The impala has a special dental arrangement on the front lower jaw similar to the toothcomb seen in strepsirrhine primates , [23] which is used during allogrooming to comb the fur on the head and the neck and remove ectoparasites. The impala is diurnal active mainly during the day , though activity tends to cease during the hot midday hours; they feed and rest at night.
Individuals maintain distances of 2. Female herds vary in size from 6 to ; herds occupy home ranges of 80— hectares — acres ; 0. The mother—calf bond is weak, and breaks soon after weaning; juveniles leave the herds of their mothers to join other herds. Female herds tend to be loose and have no obvious leadership. In allogrooming, females typically groom related impalas, while males associate with unrelated ones. Each partner grooms the other six to twelve times. Social behaviour is influenced by the climate and geography; as such, the impala are territorial at certain times of the year and gregarious at other times, and the length of these periods can vary broadly among populations.
For instance, populations in southern Africa display territorial behaviour only during the few months of the rut , whereas in eastern African populations, territoriality is relatively minimal despite a protracted mating season. Moreover, territorial males often tolerate bachelors, and may even alternate between bachelorhood and territoriality at different times of the year.
The impala is an important prey species for several carnivores , such as cheetahs , leopards and lions. It leaps in either manner in different directions, probably to confuse predators. Common ixodid ticks collected from impala include Amblyomma hebraeum , Boophilus decoloratus , Hyalomma marginatum , Ixodes cavipalpus , Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and R.
Impala have special adaptations for grooming, such as their characteristic dental arrangement, to manage ticks before they engorge; however, the extensive grooming needed to keep the tick load under control involves the risk of dehydration during summer, lower vigilance against predators and gradual wearing out of the teeth.
A study showed that impala adjust the time devoted to grooming and the number of grooming bouts according to the seasonal prevalence of ticks. Impala are symbiotically related to oxpeckers , [34] which feed on ticks from those parts of the antelope's body which the animal cannot access by itself such as the ears, neck, eyelids, forehead and underbelly.
The impala is the smallest ungulate with which oxpeckers are associated. In a study it was observed that oxpeckers selectively attended to impala despite the presence of other animals such as Coke's hartebeest , Grant's gazelle, Thompson's gazelle and topi. A possible explanation for this could be that because the impala inhabits woodlands which can have a high density of ticks , the impala could have greater mass of ticks per unit area of the body surface.
Lice recorded from impala include Damalinia aepycerus , D. This study recorded worms of genera such as Cooperia , Cooperoides , Fasciola , Gongylonema. Haemonchus , Impalaia , Longistrongylus and Trichostrongylus ; some of these showed seasonal variations in density. Impala browse as well as graze; either may predominate, depending upon the availability of resources. Impala prefer places close to water sources, and resort to succulent vegetation if water is scarce.
Impala feed on soft and nutritious grasses such as Digitaria macroblephara ; tough, tall grasses, such as Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandra , are typically avoided. Males are sexually mature by the time they are a year old, though successful mating generally occurs only after four years.
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Mature males start establishing territories and try to gain access to females. Females can conceive after they are a year and a half old; oestrus lasts for 24 to 48 hours, and occurs every 12—29 days in non-pregnant females. Gonadal growth and hormone production in males begin a few months before the breeding season, resulting in greater aggressiveness and territoriality. Mating tends to take place between full moons. Rutting males fight over dominance, often giving out noisy roars and chasing one another; they walk stiffly and display their neck and horns.
Males desist from feeding and allogrooming during the rut, probably to devote more time to garnering females in oestrus; [47] the male checks the female's urine to ensure that she is in oestrus. The male flicks his tongue and may nod vigorously; the female allows him to lick her vulva, and holds her tail to one side. The male tries mounting the female, holding his head high and clasping her sides with his forelegs.
Mounting attempts may be repeated every few seconds to every minute or two. The male loses interest in the female after the first copulation, though she is still active and can mate with other males.
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Gestation lasts six to seven months. Births generally occur in the midday; the female will isolate herself from the herd when labour pain begins. The fawn then joins a nursery group within its mother's herd. Calves are suckled for four to six months; young males, forced out of the group, join bachelor herds, while females may stay back.
The impala inhabits woodlands due to its preference for shade; it can also occur on the interface ecotone between woodlands and savannahs. Places close to water sources are preferred. In southern Africa, populations tend to be associated with Colophospermum mopane and Acacia woodlands.
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Another factor that could influence habitat choice is vulnerability to predators; impala tend to keep away from areas with tall grasses as predators could be concealed there. Earlier, the Baikiaea woodland, which has now declined due to elephants, provided minimum browsing for impala. The newly formed Capparis shrubland, on the other hand, could be a key browsing habitat.
The historical range of the impala — spanning across southern and eastern Africa — has remained intact to a great extent, although it has disappeared from a few places, such as Burundi. The range extends from central and southern Kenya and northeastern Uganda in the east to northern KwaZulu-Natal in the south, and westward up to Namibia and southern Angola.
The black-faced impala is confined to southwestern Angola and Kaokoland in northwestern Namibia; the status of this subspecies has not been monitored since the s. The common impala has a wider distribution, and has been introduced in protected areas in Gabon and across southern Africa. As of , the population of the common impala has been estimated at around two million. The rare black-faced impala has been introduced into private farms in Namibia and the Etosha National Park. Population densities vary largely from place to place; from less than one impala per square kilometre in Mkomazi National Park Tanzania to as high as per square kilometre near Lake Kariba Zimbabwe.
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