Impalas
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40 free Impalas trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The impala is the antelope almost every safari visitor sees first and photographs least, which is a pity. Behind the familiar reddish coat is an animal with a gymnast's spring, a surprisingly loud voice and a body full of clever fixes for life among Africa's hunters. This quiz gathers the fun facts people most often look for about impalas: how they jump, what they eat, how their herds are organised, how they keep parasites at bay and which animals hunt them. It also covers where the name comes from, the nicknames the animal has picked up and the places and products named after it. It suits animal lovers, students working on a wildlife project and anyone heading out on safari who wants to know what they are looking at. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you will leave with a few facts worth repeating.
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Q 01The impala is jokingly nicknamed after which fast-food chain, partly because its rump markings resemble its logo?
McDonald's
McDonald's fits twice over: the dark stripes on an impala's rump and tail sketch the chain's logo, and the antelope is one of the most common meals for Africa's big hunters.
Q 02Which American car brand named a full-size model after the impala and used the antelope as its logo?
Chevrolet
Chevrolet first used the name on a 1956 General Motors show car, then launched the Impala as a top-of-the-line model for 1958.
Q 03Kampala, whose name comes from a phrase meaning hill of the impala, is the capital of which country?
Uganda
Uganda's capital grew around a hill that had been a royal hunting reserve rich in impala. British officials called it the Hill of the Impala, and the local translation of that phrase stuck.
Q 04During the rut, male impalas make which surprisingly fierce sound, audible up to two kilometres away?
A roar
A roar from a rutting impala begins with one to three loud snorts and ends in a run of deep grunts, given with the mouth open and the chin and tail raised.
Q 05Which birds ride on impalas to eat parasites, making the impala the smallest hoofed animal they regularly use?
Oxpeckers
Oxpeckers clean the places an impala cannot reach for itself, such as the eyelids and forehead. They have even been seen perching on a female's udder to steal her milk.
Q 06A fleeing impala can cover roughly what distance in one bound, sailing over bushes and even herd-mates?
10 metres
10 metres, about 33 feet, is the reach of a single impala leap, and the same jump can lift the antelope nearly ten feet into the air.
Q 07An impala's lower front teeth form a comb, like those of lemurs, which the antelope uses for what?
Removing ticks
Removing ticks is serious work for an impala: it rakes the tooth comb through its own coat and its companions', and gives the job more time in the seasons when the parasites are at their worst.
Q 08An impala's long, ridged horns are usually said to be shaped like which ancient stringed instrument?
A lyre
A lyre is the standard comparison for the horns' double curve, and the arch has a use: it lets two rivals lock horns so that one can throw the other off.
Q 09A startled impala herd explodes into leaps in every direction, a display thought to serve which purpose?
To confuse predators
To confuse predators is the likely aim: a hunter faced with antelope bouncing every which way struggles to single one out. The jumping also helps the herd stay together.
Q 10Impala is one of the species most often harvested for which South African snack of cured, dried meat?
Biltong
Biltong made from impala is common because the antelope is among the most frequently hunted on South African safaris.
Q 11Among impalas, which animals carry horns?
Males only
Males only: female impalas are hornless and a little smaller, while a ram's horns can grow to about 90 centimetres long.
Q 12What is an adult female impala called?
Ewe
Ewe is the term South African field guides use, and they put a typical female at about 40 kilograms against a ram's 60.
Q 13The impala's Afrikaans name, rooibok, which is sometimes used in English, translates as what?
Red buck
Red buck is the literal meaning, a nod to the glossy reddish-brown coat. An older English name, pallah, came from the animal's Tswana name, phala.
Q 21Young male impalas forced out of their mothers' groups band together in units known by which name?
Bachelor herds
Bachelor herds are small, usually fewer than 30 animals, and their members keep a careful distance of nearly three metres from one another.
Q 22After a short spell hidden in cover, impala fawns band together with other youngsters to form what?
A nursery group
A nursery group makes it harder for a predator to single out one fawn, and the youngsters in it play, groom and move around together.
Q 23The word impala entered English in the 1870s directly from which southern African language?
Zulu
Zulu supplied the modern name, which replaced pallah, the form English writers had been using since 1802.
Q 14Which big cat has been seen dropping out of trees onto impalas, one of its most preferred prey?
Leopard
Leopard studies list impala among the cat's most preferred prey. It is strong enough to haul a carcass heavier than itself into a tree, out of reach of rivals.
Q 15Which endangered pack hunter, also known as the painted wolf, targets impala across central and southern Africa?
African wild dog
African wild dog packs choose impala wherever the two overlap: a species-wide study put it among their five most regularly selected prey, alongside greater kudu and Thomson's gazelle.
Q 16Besides the large carnivores, which snakes often prey on impalas, especially the young?
Pythons
Pythons take young impalas often enough that herds stay on constant alert: when one animal spots danger it snorts an alarm and the whole herd scatters.
Q 17A study found impala numbers benefited where which giant animals had thinned woodland into shrubland?
Elephants
Elephants opened up the woodland and left shrubland behind, which gave impala more to browse on in the dry season.
Q 18As a species, the impala holds which status on the IUCN Red List?
Least Concern
Least Concern is the verdict for the species as a whole, though the rare black-faced subspecies is listed separately as Vulnerable.
Q 19The impala shares its biological family with which pair of animals?
Cattle and goats
Cattle and goats share the impala's family, as do sheep, bison and buffalo: cloven-hoofed animals whose horns are bone covered in a permanent sheath of keratin.
Q 20A territorial impala ram gathers and guards a group of females, an arrangement known by which name?
A harem
A harem is hard-won and tiring to keep: rams largely stop feeding during the rut so they can herd their females and fight off challengers.
Q 24Besides grass and leaves, impalas eat the seed pods of which thorny African trees whenever they can?
Acacia
Acacia pods are a seasonal bonus for an animal that both grazes and browses, a flexible diet that gives the impala a more reliable food supply than specialist antelope enjoy.
Q 25Brush-like tufts of black hair just above the heels of an impala's hind legs cover what?
Scent glands
Scent glands on the hind legs are thought to release a signal in mid-air when an impala kicks high, leaving a trail that fast-running herd-mates can follow.
Q 26In a feeding impala herd, which animals are generally the most watchful for approaching danger?
Those at the edges
Those at the edges keep the sharpest lookout, while an impala feeding in the middle can concentrate on defending its patch of food by lowering its head at neighbours.
Q 27Unlike many grazers of the African plains, where does a frightened impala tend to flee?
Into thick bush
Into thick bush is the impala's choice, the reverse of most plains antelope, and at times it simply hides among the vegetation instead of running.
Q 28The rare black-faced impala lives only in south-western Angola and the north-west of which neighbouring country?
Namibia
Namibia's Kaokoland is the black-faced impala's stronghold. The subspecies is larger and darker than the common impala, with a dark stripe running up either side of its nose.
Q 29Studies found that which disease-carrying African insects take hardly any of their blood meals from impalas?
Tsetse flies
Tsetse flies, the carriers of sleeping sickness, were found in two separate studies to take only trace amounts of their blood meals from impala.
Q 30An impala mother leaves the herd to give birth alone, generally at which time of day?
Midday
Midday births are the norm for impalas, and the single calf is hidden in cover straight away rather than following its mother.