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Impala Facts & Worksheets

A light-built, swift-running, powerful-jumping African antelope, an impala (Aepyceros melampus) is distinguished for its glossy, reddish brown coat with white colorations on the underside, chin, and tail.

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A light-built, swift-running, powerful-jumping African antelope, an impala (Aepyceros melampus) is distinguished for its glossy, reddish brown coat with white colorations on the underside, chin, and tail. An impala reflects the principle of bi-level functionality, providing important ecological functions and improving their adaptations on survival and reproduction.

See the fact file below for more information on the impala or alternatively, you can download our 22-page Impala worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

ETYMOLOGY

  • In 1802, the first verified English name was palla or pallah, originating from the Tswana phala ‘red antelope’. The term impala, also spelled impala or mpala, is initially attested in 1875. Its Afrikaans name, rooibok or ‘red buck’, is also sometimes used in English.
  • Its scientific generic name Aepyceros, or ‘high-horned’, and its specific name melampus, or ‘black foot’, are both derived from Ancient Greek.

TAXONOMY

  • The impala is the only member of the genus Aepyceros and is housed under the family Bovidae. In 1812, German zoologist Martin Hinrich Carl Lichtenstein initially described these mammals.
  • In 1984, palaeontologist Elisabeth Vrba suggested that the impala is a sister taxon to the alcelaphines, given its similarities to the hartebeest.
  • A 1999 research conducted by Alexandre Hassanin and colleagues revealed that the impala establishes a clade with the suni, based on mitochondrial and nuclear analyses.
  • Up to six subspecies have been discovered, although only two are generally acknowledged on the basis of mitochondrial data, namely the common impala (A. m. melampus) found across eastern and southern Africa, and the black-faced impala (A. m. petersi) which is restricted to southwestern Africa.

DESCRIPTION

  • The impala is a medium-built, slender antelope that displays a resemblance to the kob or Grant’s gazelle in stature. The head-and-body length reaches 51 inches; males are about 30 to 36 inches at the shoulder while females are 28 to 33 inches tall. Males are relatively heavier than females, weighing 117 to 168 pounds compared to 88 to 117 pounds.
  • Impalas show great sexual dimorphism. Females lack horns and appear smaller than males, which grow thin, lyre-shaped horns that are 18 to 36 inches long.
  • A male impala’s horns are ridged and divergent, circular in section and hollow at the bottom. Their arch-like structure lets interlocking horns, which aids a male throw off his enemy during fights and protects the skull from damage.
  • Their shiny coat displays two-tone coloration – the reddish brown back and the tan flanks; these provide sharp contrast to their white underbelly. Facial attributes include white rings circling the eyes and a light chin and snout. Their ears, which are 6.7 inches long, have black tips. Black streaks stretch from the buttocks to the upper hind legs. Their fluffy white tail, with a length of 12 inches, flaunts a full black stripe along the midline. Their coloration resembles the gerenuk, which has shorter horns and does not have black thigh stripes.
  • Impalas have scent glands covered by a black tuft of hair on the back legs. Sebaceous glands found on the forehead and scattered on the torso of dominant males are most active during mating season, while those of females are only slightly developed and are not subjected to seasonal changes.
  • Among the recognized subspecies, the black-faced impala is considerably larger and darker than the common impala, a feature caused by melanism. The black-faced impala has a dark stripe, on either side of the nose, that stretches upward to the eyes and thins as it reaches the forehead, a larger black tip on the ear, and a bushier and almost 30% longer tail than their cousins.

ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR

  • Impalas are diurnal creatures – active during the day and rest at night, though their energetic demeanor seems to drop during the hot midday hours.
  • Three unique social groups can be noticed: the territorial males which keep territories marked with urine and feces where they may establish harems of females, the bachelor herds which appear to be small with less than 30 members, and the female herds which tend to be loose and form no leadership, range in size from six to a hundred, occupying home ranges of 80 to 180 hectares.
  • The mother-calf tandem forms a weak bond, and breaks soon after weaning. Juveniles leave the herds of their mothers to follow other herds.
  • Allogrooming is an essential means of social interaction among bachelors and female heards. Females generally groom related impalas, while males interact with unrelated ones. Each partner grooms its pair six to 12 times.
  • Social behavior depends on climate and geography; as such, the impala is territorial during specific times of the year and gregarious at other times, and the length of those periods can differ among populations.
  • Impalas are important prey species among several carnivores, such as cheetahs, leopards, and lions.
  • They display two distinct leaps – they can jump up to 9.8 feet over vegetation and even over other impala, covering distances of up to 33 feet, and they can perform a number of jumps in which they land on their forelegs, move their back legs mid-air in a kicking fashion, and land on all four legs and then rebound. They leap in either manner in various directions, a technique to confuse predators.
  • There are instances when they may hide themselves in vegetation to escape their predators.
  • The most well-known vocalization of impalas is the loud roar, produced through one to three loud snorts with the mouth closed, preceded by two to ten deep grunts with the mouth open and the chin and tail raised.
  • Scent gland excretions distinguish a territorial male.
  • Impalas are sedentary; adult and middle-aged males can maintain their territories for years.

PARASITES

  • Common ixodid ticks found in impalas include Amblyomma hebraeum, Boophilus decoloratus, Hyalomma marginatum, Ixodes cavipalpus, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, and R. evertsi.
  • In Zimbabwe, heavy infestation caused by ticks affected the high mortality of impalas, leading to tick paralysis.
  • Impalas exhibit a symbiotic relationship with oxpeckers, which feed on ticks from those parts of the antelope’s body, such as the ears, neck, eyelids, forehead, and underbelly.

DIET

  • Impalas are both browsers and grazers, depending on the availability of resources. They feed on monocots, dicots, phorbs, fruits, and acacia pods and prefer places near to water sources, resorting to succulent vegetation if no water is available.
  • Browsing occurs in the late wet and dry season, and their diets are nutritionally poor in the mid-dry season, when these creatures consume mostly woody dicots.

REPRODUCTION

  • Males reach sexual maturity after a year, and begin forming territories to gain access to females.
  • Females conceive after a year and a half, and their oestrus cycle lasts for one to two days, taking place every 12 to 29 days in non-pregnant females.
  • Breeding males fight over dominance, producing loud roars and running after another; they walk stiffly and show off their neck and horns. They also check the female’s urine to guarantee that she is in oestrus.
  • Gestation occurs for about six to seven months. Females give birth during midday, and will isolate from the herd when labor pain starts.
  • Only one calf is born, and is immediately concealed in cover for the first few weeks after being born.

THREATS AND CONSERVATION

  • Common impalas are classified as least concern species by the IUCN; their black-faced cousins, on the other hand, are considered vulnerable species as of 2008.
  • Poaching and natural disasters have contributed to the decline of the black-faced impala.

Impala Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the impala across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Impala worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the impala (Aepyceros melampus) which is distinguished for its glossy, reddish brown coat with white colorations on the underside, chin, and tail. An impala reflects the principle of bi-level functionality, providing important ecological functions and improving their adaptations on survival and reproduction.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Impala Facts
  • Creature Corner
  • Impala Anatomy
  • An Impala’s Life
  • Ask an Impala
  • Recognized Species
  • Fact or Not
  • Word Search
  • What’s the Difference?
  • Influence on Music
  • Friendly Relationship

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Link will appear as Impala Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, May 19, 2021

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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