Impala (Aepyceros melampus)

Читати українською(переклад на редакторській перевірці)

MammalAntelopeAfrica

Portrait of a male black-faced impala (Aepyceros melampus petersi) showing the long ridged lyre-shaped horns. — A black-faced impala ram in Etosha National Park, Namibia. Only males carry horns.
Image: Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Overview

The impala (Aepyceros melampus) is a slender, reddish-brown antelope of eastern and southern Africa and one of the most abundant and visible animals of the savanna. Only males carry the long, lyre-shaped ridged horns.

Impalas are marked by a distinctive rump pattern — white with a black vertical stripe on each side and a third down the tail — which is thought to help a fleeing herd stay coordinated. A tuft of black hair on each hind leg covers a scent gland.

The impala is unusual among antelopes in being a genuine mixed feeder: it grazes grass when grass is good and switches to browsing leaves and shoots when it is not. That flexibility is a large part of why it does so well across a wide range of savanna conditions.

Habitat & Range

Impalas live in savanna woodland, open woodland edges and thicket across eastern and southern Africa. They depend on access to water and are usually found within reach of it, favouring the transition zones between grassland and woodland where both grazing and browsing are available. A separate, more restricted subspecies, the black-faced impala, occurs in Namibia and southwestern Angola.

Diet

Impalas take grasses, leaves, shoots, herbs, fruit and seed pods, shifting the balance with the seasons — grass when it is green and nutritious, browse when the dry season sets in. This dietary flexibility lets them use habitats where strict grazers or strict browsers would struggle.

Behavior

Impalas are famous for leaping: when alarmed a herd explodes outward in high, long bounds that can clear substantial distances and heights, a display that confuses pursuing predators. Social structure shifts through the year — females and young form herds, young males form bachelor groups, and in the rut dominant males hold territories and are highly vocal, giving loud roaring and snorting calls. Impalas also groom one another, an unusual behaviour among antelopes.

Human Interaction & Conservation

Impalas are common in protected areas across their range and are a familiar sight on safari, as well as being important prey for leopards, cheetahs, lions, wild dogs and hyenas. The species overall is widespread and abundant, but the black-faced subspecies is far more restricted. This profile offers no hunting or handling guidance. Verify current status at the IUCN Red List.

Sourced facts

Each value below is traced to the specific reference that states it. Open a row's evidence to see the source, where to look in it, and how firmly it supports the value. Sources checked 2026-10-09.

Sourced facts about the Impala, with the reference supporting each
Fact	What the source states	Evidence
Geographic range	From north-east South Africa to Angola, southern Zaire, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya.ADW uses the former country name Zaire. The range text does not mention Namibia or the black-faced impala (A. m. petersi appears only in ADW's conservation text).	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Geographic Range Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Habitat	Woodland with little undergrowth and low to medium-height grassland; nearby water is preferred but not needed when grass is abundant.	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Habitat Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Diet	Intermediate feeder, predominantly a grazer: eats mostly grass in the lush growth after the rains and switches to browse in the dry season.ADW describes impala as ruminants; its plant-food tags list leaves and wood, bark or stems.	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Food Habits Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Body mass	45–60 kg.Pooled range from ADW's data summary; ADW tags the species 'male larger' but gives no sex-specific masses.	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Physical Description Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Lifespan	Wild: an average of 15.0 or 13.0 years, depending on the figure; 17.4 years in captivity.sources disagree	Sources disagree · Animal Diversity Web — how we know What each reading says 15.0 years — Animal Diversity Web, 'Average lifespan', wild (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research) 13.0 years — Animal Diversity Web, 'Average lifespan', wild (same source) 17.4 years — Animal Diversity Web, 'Average lifespan', captivity (same source) Two 'average lifespan (wild)' figures, 15.0 and 13.0 years, are listed side by side with no context; they cannot both be the average. There is no lifespan prose to reconcile them. Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Lifespan/Longevity Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Activity pattern	Diurnal; spends the night ruminating and lying down, with peaks of social activity and herd movement shortly after dawn and before dusk.	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Behavior Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Social structure	Varies with season. Female herds average 15–100 animals; in the wet season there are territorial males, bachelor herds and breeding herds of females and juveniles.Herd size depends on space available. Females live in clans with 80–180 ha home ranges; in the dry season males gather together or mix with female herds, and southern impala intermix more than eastern impala. Mating system polygynous.	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Behavior Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Distinguishing traits	Only males carry S-shaped, heavily ridged horns 45–91.7 cm long; black stripes run down the tail, forehead, both thighs and ear tips.Both sexes are red-brown, paler on the sides, with white belly, chin, lips, inner ears, eye line and tail; scent glands on the rear feet lie beneath patches of black hair.	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Physical Description Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Conservation status	Least Concern (LC), global assessment, 2016	Matches source · IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — how we know IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits Read from the Red List export IUCN publishes to GBIF; iucnredlist.org itself does not answer automated reads. Categories are reassessed over time.

Not stated here, and why

Body size— no source accepted yet: The ADW account states no body length or shoulder height (only male horn length is given).

References for the facts above

UniversityAnimal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of ZoologySupports: Range, habitat, diet, body size and mass, lifespan, activity and social structure, as the account states them. Retrieved 2026-10-09.Limitations: A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
ReferenceIUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesSupports: The global Red List category and the year of the assessment. Retrieved 2026-10-09.Limitations: Read from the Red List export IUCN publishes to GBIF; iucnredlist.org itself does not answer automated reads. Categories are reassessed over time.

Frequently Asked Questions — Impala

How high can an impala jump?

Impalas make spectacular leaps when alarmed, clearing considerable height and distance in a single bound and often changing direction mid-air. Exact figures vary between sources and individuals, so it is better to describe the leaps qualitatively than to quote a precise record.

Do female impalas have horns?

No. Only males carry horns, which are long, ridged and lyre-shaped and are used in displays and in fights during the rut. Females are hornless, which makes the sexes easy to tell apart at a distance.

What do impalas eat?

Both grass and browse. Impalas are mixed feeders: they graze grasses when these are green and nutritious and switch to leaves, shoots, herbs, fruit and pods as the dry season advances. That flexibility is a major reason they thrive across varied savanna habitats.

Why do impalas have black stripes on the rump?

The white rump carries a black stripe on each side and one down the tail, forming a distinctive pattern. It is generally interpreted as a signal that helps a fleeing herd stay together and coordinated, since the pattern is highly visible from behind during a scattering escape.

Sources and further reading

Authoritative wildlife references used for general educational context. Conservation status should always be verified against current IUCN Red List data. External links open in a new tab.

UniversityAnimal Diversity Web — Aepyceros melampus (impala) — University of Michigan species account
Wildlife referenceSmithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute — Animals — Educational species pages from the Smithsonian Institution
Wildlife referenceIUCN Red List of Threatened Species — Authoritative source for current conservation status