One-horned impala still going strong

September 2009 - the earliest photo we have

June 2010 (top left)

When we first arrived at Leopard’s View in September 2008 we were immediately aware of the presence of a male impala with one horn only.  He appeared to be in charge of a small harem of females and so we reckoned that he was doing alright in spite of this handicap to seeing off other males.  He has not been in charge of a harem since that first year, however.  How he lost the missing horn we do not know but impala do sometimes lose horns during fighting or perhaps even falling while being chased.  We have seen “one-horn” on and off ever since, always within the general vicinity of the Lodge, although the first photograph we have of him is from September 2009, a year after we first encountered him.  Further photos are on our files from early June 2010 and then 13^th March of this year, 2011.  We were pleased, therefore, when a one-horned impala and a couple of other two-horned males spent some time browsing outside our house late on the afternoon of 12^th June.  We assume that it is the same animal:  while it could be another male altogether, the likelihood of two one-horned impala in the same area is small.  It is good to know that he is still surviving.

March 2011 at the waterhole (top centre)

12th June 2011 - still going strong