Scientific
classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Aepycerotinae
Genus: Aepyceros
Species: A. melampus
Conservation
Status:
Lower risk
Impala are
renowned as the high-jump champions
of the natural world, with leaps 3 meters high and almost
10 meters long in a single bound. These elegant, smooth-coated
animals are among the most beautiful and graceful of the antelopes.
An impala is a medium-sized African antelope,
weighing about 50 kg. Reddish-brown in colour with lighter
flanks, it has a white underbelly.
Only the males have
horns, which are quite large and lyre-shaped. They are among
the dominant species in many savannas.
They are gregarious creatures and are usually
found in herds, often a male with many females. Their food
consists of a mixture of grasses and woody species.
