106 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



tree are eagerly sought and the fruit eaten away from 

 the stone which it surrounds. 



Towards the end of the dry season, in a district where 

 impala are very numerous, it is worth while closely in- 

 specting the bush to see how completely those species of 

 trees, which are most favoured, are stripped of every- 

 thing edible up to the extreme height which the animals 

 are able to reach. The tops of reeds are often cropped, 

 but probably as a dessert rather than as a substantial 

 meal ; for captured buck soon became very thin and 

 weak when these were given in conjunction with grass 

 only ; whereas directly tree foliage and bean pods were 

 substituted, improvement in condition became apparent. 

 The impalas sent to the Transvaal Zoological Gardens 

 lost a good deal of flesh at first, consequent upon the 

 change from their natural food ; but eventually their 

 systems became adjusted to the green forage and other 

 nourishing diet supplied, and they waxed fat and sleek. 

 Impala lambs grow very rapidly, and within a few days 

 are able to keep up with the older animals for at least 

 a short distance. When at play together they form 

 a very pretty sight, and are fond of rearing up on their 

 hind legs after the manner of goats. When not persecuted 

 by man, impala become fairly tame and confident, and 

 are very easy to approach ; but when accustomed to 

 being hunted and harassed they show great suspicion 

 and wariness. 



The species now exists in the Sabi Bush in large 

 numbers, and when the unremitting slaughter of thirty 

 years at the hands of both white men and kaffirs, as well 

 as the constant inroads of the carnivora, is taken into 

 account, it is an eloquent tribute to its regenerative power 

 that it should have attained to at least something of its 

 former abundance. The slaughter reached its culmina- 



