Who could resist the sight of a tiny and cute impala lamb! With the arrival of all the babies, predator activity naturally increases, so who knows, you may get to see a lot more action than you expected!
You may even be lucky enough to witness a hunt. Next time you are on safari, look out for the impala. You may have seen them a few times on your game drives but you never know, it may just be worth sticking around and watching the herd for a while. You never know what could happen! Lalibela Game Reserve is located in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, close to Port Elizabeth and Addo, which means it is not only malaria free, but spans 5 ecosystems, resulting in a breath-taking diversity of flora and fauna.
In search of more reading? Toggle Sliding Bar Area. Our lodges and camps Lalibela Game Reserve is located in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, close to Port Elizabeth and Addo, which means it is not only malaria free, but spans 5 ecosystems, resulting in a breath-taking diversity of flora and fauna.
Lentaba Safari Lodge more info. Hyena cubs are born with their eyes open. They can suckle for up to 12 to18 months, which is unusually long for carnivores They start venturing out with their mother on hunting forays at about a year old. Until then, they are left at the den with a babysitting adult who keeps a close eye on them. Unlike human infants, wild babies have to adapt quickly to the dangers of life in the bush. Prey animals like the Impala and Warthog have to be able to run within a few hours of being born and even predator cubs have to learn quickly how to avoid danger.
Generally, the prey animals will have their offspring in the spring or summer months at the arrival of the first rains. The predators, however, have shorter gestation periods and most can give birth throughout the year. This year on Kapama, some of our predators have timed their births with the birthing season of their prey and we have been fortunate to have had a plethora of leopard and lion cub sightings over the past month. Two of our Lion pride have recently grown in size with cubs being born in the last couple of months.
Lion cubs are often born as part of a litter of up to six siblings. The first months are the most vulnerable and the mother hides her cubs in long grass. In the case of our one pride, she chose a narrow dry riverbed, while she goes hunting. The biggest threats during this time are starvation and infanticide which can occur when a new male takes over the pride and kills the offspring of his predecessor. Luckily for our new Lion cubs, a coalition of three male Lions have taken over huge parts of the reserved and together provide ample protection for their offspring.
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Need a camera for your stay? Book it online and hassle free. Travel to Londolozi light and easy. It is no secret that we have not received much rain over the last few months at Londolozi, until about a week ago. Just a few millimetres of rain have in fact resulted in vibrant colours and surges of new life. The bush has become transformed, with green shoots emerging from seeds which have lain dormant in anticipation of rain.
In turn, antelope have been in anticipation of the green shoots and now have access to high quality food, improving their condition and we are expecting impalas to drop their lambs relatively soon. The recent rains at Londolozi have begun to restore the bush to its summertime state. Fresh green shoots not only provide vibrant colours, but also provide optimal food for impala and other grazers.
Animals are very much creatures of habit and it is the interface between animals and their environment that will often determine their behaviour.
Impala are synchronous breeders. Simply put, they usually breed at a certain time of the year. As the summer begins to come to an end, around May at Londolozi, the days become shorter and trigger an increase in the testosterone of the rams and they begin to fight for ewes. The males set up small territories and defend them by thrashing bushes with their horns and making use of specific piles of dung. At the same time, they utter loud snorts and roaring sounds, which, when heard for the first time can be rather terrifying.
All of this is part of a concerted effort to find females, court them and mate with them. During the month of May, testosterone levels are heightened in male impalas and fights such as this are common to secure their dominance and earn a chance to mate with ewes in oestrus. With synchronised breeding comes synchronised births. Young impala lambs are usually born around early-mid November, which usually coincides with the start of the wet season.
The surplus of good forage is great for the impala ewes, keeping them well fed and able to produce milk for their lambs. For as long as I can remember, I have heard people speak about the ability of impala to delay giving birth for up to a month until the first rains arrive. Despite low rainfall, impala lambs are often born into sparse bushveld that leads to a high mortality rate for the youngsters. Late rains may also affect the condition of the ewes and poor conditions may cause to them to reabsorb or abandon the fetus, or they may simply be eaten by predators.
With this in mind, together with the fact that they are often hidden very well, it is most likely that these young lambs born early in the season are never seen.
The young lambs that are seen and successfully raised later on in the season, after the first rains, were probably those conceived later in the breeding season. This may give the impression that females have delayed their births in response to the late onset of the rain. Impala do also give birth prematurely in response to early rain, but this is most likely due to the ample supply of food which may facilitate the development of the foetus. Young impala lambs are hidden away for the first two weeks after being born.
It is most likely that during years where the rainfall is late, these young impala lambs are aborted or abandoned, and are never seen. The lambs seen later in the season, are most likely those that were conceived later in the breeding season. This may have given rise to the widespread belief that impalas are able to delay their births to coincide with impending rain. It seems evident that impalas are certainly susceptible to changes in their environment, as are most animals.
However, impalas most likely do not have as much control over their physiology as we may think, and are unlikely to delay their birth in anticipation of impending rain.
Late rains may result in a slight delay in lambing as a result of poor nutritional conditions, just as optimal conditions may result in slightly earlier lambing. To cope with poor conditions, impalas are able to better deal with these by abandoning or aborting their young rather than risk their own lives to look after a lamb whose likelihood of survival is marginal at best.
Filed under Wildlife. Kirst Joscelyne Nov 11, 4. Leopards , Tracking. Jess Shillaw Nov 10, 2 Lions , Wildlife. Dean De La Rey Nov 9, You must be logged in to post a comment.
Another outstanding example of what makes Londolozi so special. Our best photographs are available for purchase in digital format from the Londolozi Live Fine Art Store, via credit card. Purchasable photos are tagged with the Fine Art Store icon:. Once purchased, you will be able to download the full resolution, unwatermarked image around 10Mb from your profile page at any time.
There are also different license options which you can choose from when adding the image to your cart. They also live in savannas. Impala are diurnal, which means they are most active in the early morning and right before sunset. During the rainy season, impalas gather in groups of hundreds. In dry season the herds roam together to look for food. During the rainy season males can be territorial and will herd females around a territorial area. Groups of young impalas are called creches.
These groups of offspring are like nursery schools for the young and they play together and groom each other, according to ADW.
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