A Croak and a Grunt in the Night

It is the time of year when we are starting to hear the startling sounds of the night and early morning mating rituals of the Impala. (Aepyceros melampus) These delicate, beautiful creatures roam Etango in large herds and are normally a very placid and gentle creature. That is .....until it is time for the males to challenge each other in the annual right of who gets to mate with the females and pass on his genes to the herd.

Thier startling grunts and calls sound like the roaring of a lion and are really quite disconcerting to the uninitiated human. These calls are combined with fights that can leave the weaker male with broken horns, viscious wounds, dead and at the mildest a large headache. On Tuesday we had just such an incident outside of the staff farm house where one of the males was left with a horn hanging from his head. There is nothing you can do to help him and you have to stand back and let nature take it's course. This preoccupation with challenging of each other affects thier vigilence and it is often possible to pass by close to the herd without disturbing them. These antelope reach a shoulder height of 91cm they weigh about 45-55kg and thier gestation period is 180-210 days.