Mating Impalas on my Trailcam: The Rutting Season
The memory card in our Trailcam filled up in just one night this week! It was a very busy night in front of our gate. All because of a very busy boy! It is rutting season for the impala and this particular big ram was up and down, busy with the females the whole night!
During their rutting season, the male impala have one thing on their mind and one thing only: to get some impala-lady-lovin’. And the footage I got of this herd of impala at our front gate shows just that.
It is actually very interesting to see the ram herd his females, smell them, vocalising and attempting to mate. He actually fell off one of the females trying to dismount. One of the other females gave him a bit of a funny look. How embarrassing! Haha!
The funniest thing for me though, was the little scrub hare that just quietly sits there in the middle of all the impala mating madness and appears not to have a care in the world!
I hope you enjoy the video I have compiled of the dozens of clips I got during that one night.
I would like to finish with one word of caution. During the rutting season, male impala really do not pay much attention to their surroundings. They only have eye for the ladies. They spend a lot of their energy fighting with other males to determine who gets the ladies, then chasing the ladies and eventually mating with lots of ladies.
Sometimes the males just run out onto the road out of nowhere. Or females do when they are being ‘courted’ by an eager suitor. So if you are driving in Kruger, please be aware of the impala’s blinded by love!
Have a lovely week everyone!
Xxx, Linda
Linda, as usual most entertaining to read. Thanks as well for the last warning comment. It is so important that influencers like yourself give these messages to visitors. Just a cautionary note to highlight unpredictable animal behavior. Thank you
Very interesting!! Thank you!!
Oh Linda …. yet again another brilliant read. Thanks.