The impala antelopes before it was transferred to Lake Mburo national park, it was first be in kampala areas where the kings of Buganda kingdom where hunting on and kampala by then where calling it hills of impala in locally called “Akasozi kempala”
Impala is an amazing type of antelopes that looks like similar to goat and a deer, they have long legs, necks and twisted horns and it is medium sized antelope. However, Impalas gives birth in the midday because at this time is the safest time to give when their enemies are resting from heat of a day and relaxing time. This is because half of newborn are killed by big cats within the first few weeks of life, and here in Uganda impala are commonly seen in lake Mburo national park which is located in the south-western park of the country, is approximately 245km from west of kampala city to the main destination. The name Kampala city of Uganda was derived from the word impalas.
The male impalas have horns while as the females I has no horns, also the male impalas are known as rams but females referred to as awe, the horns on the male s are raising up to 75cm long and they can take many years to make a full length, that’s why young animals are unlikely to create a dominant position and breeding territory.
The male’s impalas produce ascent from a gland on their foreheads to make known status to rivals. When it comes to losing its rank, it just produces less ascent “male”, Male impalas are good for protecting their territory all around the mating season while using their antlers as weapons.
The impala is one the most seen animals and most graceful mammal on earth. They are agile creatures and have clear formidable obstacles, these creatures can run at speed faster than 60km. Note that, they are fleet runners who leap up to 10m in the length and 3m in height. They use such speed in order to escape and avoid predators and seemingly for pure interest.
Due to weather changes, mothers can take long without giving birth like a month and this occurs because of the harsh in weather condition like in wet season. The impala sex ratio weighs in favour of the females, with twice as many females born per year.
The impalas can lower their chances of attack when living in large herds, when they get attacks, yhey just leap and scatter in all conditions in order to confuse the predators.
Impala like drinking water on daily basis and the water hole they go to is known of predators which frequently lie in waiting to attack the impalas and such predators includes the lions, leopards, cheetahs and crocodiles. Due to that incident impala often drink water during the hottest part of the day when the predators are at their most sluggish.
The female impalas form a herd of up to 100 individuals whereas males live in a group of about 60 animals where they occupy a large range and make seasonal movements from high to lower ground according to the availability of suitable food.
Impalas are being eaten but the predators such as the leopards, lions and cheetahs but they constantly alert to danger and have an active sense of hearing, sight, and smell. They can let out scent from their glands on their heels, which is a sign of togetherness. This is done by performing a high kick of their hind legs.
The impala weighs up to around 40 – 80 kilograms and grows up to 32 to 38 inches long by adulthood and come up with the chest of an average-sized adult man.
The impalas are herbivores which means they only eat vegetation and their diet consist of leaves, wood, stems and barks, the impalas are native of Africa and can be found in Uganda national parks, Kenya, Tanzania in east African countries, Angola, Namibia and other countries. They live in woodland with little grass and low to medium-high grassland.
The impalas are currently categorized by IUCN under the Red List of animals of least concern, their life span in approximately 12 years in the wild but can live longer than that in protecting areas meaning they can live beyond that while in captivity.
