IN-DEPTH STUDY

by Larry Blomquist

I have always been impressed with the grace and beauty of a whitetail deer. I now have another animal to admire, the African impala. With its sleek reddish coat, long legs and lyre-shaped horns, it is perhaps the most elegant of all African antelope. This animal seems to move without effort. Its long leaps and jumps can span over 30 feet and may be as high as 8 feet.

These animals are built for escape. Despite their great leaping abilities, impalas form the bulk of the diet of all large carnivores, except lion which generally prefer larger game. Their behavior of feeding on the fringes of habitat gives them quick access to cover, yet it seems to favor the stalking techniques of predators. Leopards target females and younger males, but large leopards are able to capture larger males. Aside from lions and leopards, impalas are also preyed on by hyenas, wild dogs, and cheetahs. Martial eagles and jackals prey upon the babies, while Nile crocodiles and African rock pythons find all age groups tasty.

Having all of these enemies, it is hard to understand why impalas, even in the wild country outside of national parks, were the least alarmed of all the game I encountered while hunting. I could not help but compare their personality to mule deer does and young bucks. A mature male impala, like a mature mule deer buck, would be the first to become alert and flee, but only after stopping and looking at from what he was fleeing.

...Continued in the Fall 2004 Issue of Breakthrough.

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