Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The " African Antelopes " Serengeti National Park.



The picture shows the kind of male impala " African Antelope" from Serengeti National park Tanzania one of the oldest and biggest national park SNP was gazetted in 1951 and covering 14763 square kilometres .

The male impala usually have horns found where there is a significant source of water.
Impala eat grass shoots during the wet season but when it is dry they usually eat herbs and shrubs.

Adult Male impalas have the responsibilities of protecting the female impalas .They usually establish kind of their own territories for female impalas for grazing.Other male impalas chased away by the adults from their territories .

Usually Females pass through the territories that have the best food resources.During the dry seasons, territories are abandoned, as herds must travel farther to find food.

Animals start heading back home during November because of the rains coming to Serengeti National Park.

On their way back young impala are killed by lions,jackals and small cats. When they are in fear of danger they perform a jumping move and criss cross over the predator. When they do their kick with their hind legs they release a scent which makes it easier for them to stay together.

In Africa impalas can be found in savannas and thick bushveld in Kenya, Tanzania, Swaziland, Mozambique, northern Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, southern Angola, northeastern South Africa and Uganda. Impalas can be found in numbers of up to 2 million in Africa.

The " African Antelopes " Impalas of Serengeti National Park.

By. R.Erasmus
Sources: African Wildlife - Serengeti by Uwe Skrzypczak.
Photo by B.Layh