SANParks.org Forums

Hi all,

Our beloning forumite and Birdchallenger Gregor is in SA now and just text me that he saw a white impala and wondered if there is anything known about this form of impala. He is spotted in the north somewhere outside kruger.

It has normal black eyes and is fully white. I did some google-ing which resulted that there was born a white one around shingwezi in 2008.

On an othere website is a photo from a white impala.
http://www.wildwatch.com/sightings/a-white-impala

FlorisCathy,
Idd there is a white impala in the Shingwedzi area. I have seen him (it is a male) two times and photographed him. It is not an albino, he has normal eyes and to my impression fully accepted in a group since he was playing around with another male (no fighting).

I just added a story about him including pictures to my Trip Report stories.

http://www.sanparks.org/forums/viewtopic.php?style=2&f=27&t=48494&start=735

a picture of him:
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Many other pictures of previous trips:
My Wildlife Photography Site
http://www.awv-photography.com

FlorisCathy and Aat I posted this Impala on my Daily Blog in June 2009 - Shingwedzi. It was still a young one and Im very happy that it has survived. Many of the comments on that day and days after mentioned that it will probably not survive for long due to it "standing out" and it will be easy for predators to hunt it.

Here are 2 of the pics that I took during that time and also the most interesting reply I received from forum member Jockelina.....





Jockelina Says:
June 25th, 2009 at 4:58 pm

I don’t think that impala is an albino as well. It is an leucoism. Leucistic animals produce pigment, but it is expressed only in certain regions of the body. These animals are either all white or have patches of white, but the most important distinction is that they have normal-colored eyes and skin.
Read more: http://zoology.suite101.com/article.cfm ... JSDNVTTH&C

Very interesting... Thanks Martie! I guess this means our blonde bokkie has to be at least 3 years old already. And according to Aat - the rest of the impala herd seem to accept him. Good for him!

Seems like i saw the same guy in December of 2009:


IMG_4341 by Michael hattingh, on Flickr

Who would have ever thought that there would be a thread on this forum with a different photos of different ages of one single IMPALA of KNP! Great stuff!

Unfortunately we did not see this impala while near Shingwedzi but we did see a white giraffe just below Lower Sabie. Will get the pictures soon, busy sorting them out. He is apparently also well known and has been seen many times.

Maybe there are different impala's, maybe it's just one and the same.


There are pictures from that giraf on the forum:

http://www.sanparks.org/forums/viewtopic.php?style=2&f=67&t=20718&start=1500
Just scroll down a bit.

It is in fact leucistic. Luecism is when an animal has less melinin that other animals of its type. The opposite, melanism is when the animal has too much melinin in its skin causing: Black leopards, black wolves etc. The little guy is soooo cute!!!

Lovely sightings of this impala

Interestingly seen a white adult duiker at night just north east of Skukuza (2007) and heard of another one around lake Panic somewhere. By my calculations, the distance between the 2 sightings is about 7km. Wondering if its 2 different animals?

Taking the probability of any antelope's survival in the wild and the fact that there are records of quite a few white adult antelope (imapala, kudu, duiker) in the Kruger Park I really wonder how much of a disadvantage these white animals are at...a study would be interesting because its always been assumed they are at a huge disadvantage, but I wonder if it makes as big a difference as it has always been made out to be

I've got the pictures from Gregor:

Shingwedzi:


He had also seen one in Mapungubwe:

saw this baby baboon in south luangwa national park in zambia.

Good news! Our bokkie is still alive and well. I kept my eyes peeled for him when we were in the Shingwedzi area, and as we were sitting in Kanniedood Dam Hide (20 June 2011) - there he was on the other side of the riverbed. He was a bit far off - so photos are a bit cropped:

I also saw the one in Mapungumbwe in July, will try to post pictures later. It is also a male and seemed to get along with the others well. The ranger there said he thought it had been born last year but had not seen it himself.

I must assume that this is the same impala ram jekalo refers to. I saw it near the Limpopo Tented Camp on 6 August. It is obviously doing very well in spite of its stand-out colour condition. However, this is not a year-old ram... maybe it IS a different one!?


Large view