Impala

Appearance
The Impala is a very beautiful and gracious antelope with glossy coat. It's a medium sized antelope, weight approximately 80kg. The horns of the male are typical and the easiest way to identify the animal. Seen from the front the horns makes the shape of a  lyra, and seen from the flank it looks like a "S".

Other identification signs are the white belly with pale flanks, black ear tips and a unlike black tuft of long hair above the heels of the rear legs. Seen from behind there are also three vertical stripes on the back of the thigh and tail, forming the number "111". This male has been lucky to survive a bachelor battle but had to pay with a broken horn. 

Habits
The Impala lives on the acacia savanna or in light woodlands, usually near water of which they are very dependent. They are browsers, feeding on leaves from acacia trees and bushes, but also short grass and fruits. The Impala are very gregarious, each buck has harem of 15-20 females, sometimes more. Sometimes they join in herds. Their movements are very fast and they easily jumps even without obvious reason. They are able to leap 10 meters in lenght or 3 meters in hight.  

Males without their own female herd, joins in bachelor groups. On the picture two young bachelors are testing there strength and rang. If they are unlucky they could get stucked during the fight. This could be fatale, by making them an easy prey for carnivores or simply by starving to death.