Impala: The Elegant Beast

The name Impala, common form of the latin Aepyeros melampus, originates in the Zulu language and applies to an indiginous animal in the same family as the Gazelle and the Antelope. The Impala can be found all throughout the southern regions of Africa, and lends its name to the Uganda capital city of Kampala. The four-legged mammal can range to 75 kilograms and has a reddish-blondish fur, similar in appearance to the North American Deer. Males have a two-pronged set of horns which can reach nearly 1 meter in length. Like most horned animals, the Impala males use their horns as instruments of war in the constant battle over potential mates.

The Impala is exclusively an herbivore, grazing on grass when it is available and feeding on leaves and foliage when it is not. The Impala is a gregarious animal and often travels in a herd. The Impala is an extremely graceful animal, as it can reach high speeds and leap 30 feet across and 9 feet high. Among the predators of the Impala are the Leopord, Cheetah, Crocodile, Lion and Hyena. The Impala female, classified by her lack of horns, will herd with up to two hundred other chicks. Male Impala will generally round up these loose women, keeping them corraled and fighting off any Male intruders. Young male Impala that have been forced from their herd by adults band together in "bachelor" herds of up to 30 individuals. Together they roam the Impala bars searching for mates of their own.