How many animals do you know of that have a name beginning with “I”?
There is the Iguana, the Ibis (a bird) and there is the Impala. The Impala is found in Africa. It is a deer or buck or antelope of medium size. Impalas are actually related to goats, cattle and sheep which can be hard to believe, but scientists have found that out by testing the DNA.
These buck (in Africa, they are called bok) look like a cross between a goat and a deer. They have long legs, necks and black, twisted horns on their heads. People love to look for horns in the veld (fields) and hang them on the walls on their stoeps (balconies/verandas). Impalas have reddish brown fur over their backs and white fur on the underside of their chin, inside their ears, on the belly and lips, and over their eyes and tail. They also have black stripes down the forehead, tail, thighs and ear tips. They are very pretty.
An impala can weigh as much as a big dog, but they grow to be about waist height on a tall man.
The impala is native to Africa; you will find them in many countries south of the equator like Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya. They like to live in forests and vast open plains. At night, you may see their eyes glinting as you drive along roads that go through forests.
You will usually find impalas busy getting food or water at the drinking holes in the morning and at happy hour (which means at sunset). During the rainy season, impalas gather in groups of hundreds – that is the best time of year to drive through the reserves to see them.
A big group of bok is called a “herd.” Baby impalas are called calves. When it is time for the baby calf to be born, the mummy bok goes away from the herd to have the baby in a quiet spot. After a few days, when the baby is strong enough, the two of them will re-join the herd.
When you see a herd of young impala, you say, “Look at that crèche of impala.” It is called a crèche – the same name as the school for small children! The young impala play, and jump, and look after each other. It is such fun to watch them.
Impalas only eat boring old bark, leaves, wood and stems. Imagine having a diet like that! If they ate anything else, though, they would get very sick.
Impalas are not an endangered species – thank goodness! Although they make good eating, they are not big enough to feed lots of people; so no one shoots them. Impalas are fantastic jumpers. They can leap as far as 33 feet and as high as 10 feet. So if they are being chased by other animals like a hungry lion, they will jump and jump while running away. Jumping over small bushes and fences will certainly confuse the lion.
