Impala lamb

An impala lamb is born after a gestation of between 185 and 205 days. Young ewes lamb slower than old ones. Impala births in the wild are synchronised, about 90% of them occurring within one month of the year. This limits loss caused by predators, provided that they only kill to eat; a criterion that excludes humans.

The rut or annual breeding spell depends upon the geographical region, following the rainy season. Oestrus lasts for a day or two, recurring between 12 and 29 days in non-pregnant ewes. If you’re food, your species survives only if you breed with dedication, patterned within a tried and trusted lifestyle.

Impala birth weight is about 5 kg. The mother eats the placenta, benefiting from its nutrients while removing the scent that attracts predators. A few hours after birth, having been licked by the mother, the lamb is walked by her to a hiding spot where she deposits it out of harm’s way, as best she can.

She then goes off grazing and browsing with the herd, for suckling is hungry work. Who knows what goes through an antelope mother’s mind when she returns and does not find her lamb? The mother-child bond weakens gradually after weaning, the season for next year’s lamb almost upon her again.

Rams are sexually mature by 16 months, but mating starts when they’re four or five years old. Ewes are capable of procreation by 13 months, usually mate by 18 months. Life expectancy of impala in the absence of predators is eight to twelve years. This is reduced to below three where the southern African big predators are well represented.

Although impala is sometimes called lion McDonalds, they constitute only about 14% of lion kills. Fleeing when a predator is about 30 m away, impalas reach speeds of 60 km per hour, swerving repeatedly and taking giant leaps of 2,5 m high or 12 m far. Their tendency to pursue circular escape routes doesn’t work well against wild dogs though.

Impala features highly on the diet lists of leopard, cheetah, wild dog and even hyena. Lambs are often caught by black-backed jackals, pythons and the smaller cats.

The black-haired markings on fetlocks of the hind feet cover glands secreting pheromones, a sweet-smelling substance by which they know their kind. After a chase by a predator, a dispersed herd of impala reunites without difficulty using this scent (Riëtte, 2016; Wikipedia).