It's time to fight!!!

An Impala is a very social antelope which lives in breeding herds consisting of a dominant male and females with their young, or bachelor herds consisting of males.  Breeding herds, dependant on available territory size and grazing conditions, can consist of up to a hundred individuals that belong to a single dominant male.  These dominant males will fiercely protect their females from other males entering their territories, and are commonly seen herding females that wonder out of their territories back by a loud display of snorting sounds while chasing the female.

All other males are kicked out of the breeding herd once they have reached sexual maturity, normally around one year old, and join bachelor herds.  Within a bachelor herd there is an independent hierarchy for which they fight against each other for by means of horning.  The most dominant male within the bachelor herd automatically earns the right to challenge the dominant male of a breeding herd for the rights to his territory and females. 

The time of year that these battles occur in our area is normally around April and is called rutting season.  During this period of time, females are coming into estrus and the only thing an impala male can think of is mating.  These males are so focused on their battles to gain this right during their fights that little can actually distract them; even vehicles full of guest don’t seem to bother them.

These two male impala where fighting right outside one of our Lodges, it’s a very exciting thing to watch as this isn’t something everyone gets to see

During these fights, there is a lot of snorting and grunting, and males engage each other by means of horn sparing.  The battles can carry on for hours, even through the night.  Horn length is not necessarily an advantage, but rather physical condition and endurance as the aim of the battle is to force the opponent into submission.  The loser will then be chased out of the breeding herd’s territory.  These fights seem vicious and injuries during these battles do occur, but it is rare for these battles to result in death, however, accidents do happen.Once a victor is established, it becomes his right to mate with any female within his herd when she comes into estrus. This is nature’s way of ensuring that the strongest genes continue into the next generation, and 6 to 7 months later a new generation is born.  Most births will occur at the start of the rainy season, although impalas can drop their young right through the year.