Antelope vs Gazelle vs Impala: The Differences and Where to See Them

On a Tanzania game drive you'll hear "antelope", "gazelle" and "impala" used as if they meant the same thing. They don't. The antelope vs gazelle vs impala question has a short answer: every gazelle is an antelope, most antelopes are not gazelles, and the impala is an antelope in a tribe of its own.

An antelope is any member of the cattle family (Bovidae) that isn't a cow, buffalo, sheep or goat: about 91 species, most of them African, from the 4 kg dik-dik to the 900 kg eland. Tanzania's two gazelles, the Thomson's and the Grant's, belong to that group. So does the impala, in a tribe of one, Aepycerotini.

Key takeaways

• Every gazelle is an antelope. Most antelopes are not gazelles.
• The impala is not a gazelle. It sits alone in its own tribe, Aepycerotini.
• Quickest field tell: only male impala carry horns, while both sexes of gazelle usually do. Impala also have black tufts on their hind legs and a black "M" on the rump.
• Tanzania's two gazelles are the Thomson's and the Grant's. Both are easiest to see in the north, and the Serengeti plains hold the most.
• Impala turn up in almost every park, but not on the Ngorongoro Crater floor.
• For the rarer antelopes, go to Tarangire for gerenuk and fringe-eared oryx, and to Ruaha for sable, roan and greater kudu.

Antelope vs gazelle vs impala at a glance

What is an antelope?

"Antelope" isn't a scientific group. It's a catch-all name for the bovids that aren't cattle, buffalo, sheep or goats. By one common count that covers 91 species, and most of them live in Africa. They all chew the cud, walk on two-toed hooves and carry horns: a bone core in a keratin sheath that grows for life and is never shed.

Antelopes are also more varied than the word suggests. The ones you can see in Tanzania fall into eight tribes in ITIS, the Integrated Taxonomic Information System run by US and partner agencies.

The oddest fact in that table is the spiral-horned group. ITIS puts the eland, the kudus and the bushbuck in the subfamily Bovinae, alongside cattle and the Cape buffalo, so an eland is closer kin to a buffalo than to a gazelle.

Is a gazelle an antelope?

A gazelle is an antelope, yes, but an antelope usually isn't a gazelle. The gazelles are one branch of the antelope tree: the species in the genera Gazella, Eudorcas and Nanger, which belong to the tribe Antilopini. Together those three genera hold about 17 species, and they reach well beyond Africa, into the Middle East, central Asia and India. They're slim, fawn-coloured animals of open plains, most standing 60 to 110 cm at the shoulder, and most have horns in both sexes.

Tanzania has two. The Thomson's gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii) is the small one, found only in Kenya and Tanzania. The Grant's gazelle (Nanger granti) is larger and ranges from Tanzania north to South Sudan and Ethiopia. Both used to be filed under Gazella and were moved to their own genera, which is why older books list them differently.

So the whole gazelle vs antelope difference fits in the old rule: all gazelles are antelopes, but not all antelopes are gazelles. A wildebeest is an antelope. So is a tiny dik-dik. Neither is a gazelle.

Is an impala a gazelle?

The impala is not a gazelle. It is the only living species in the genus Aepyceros and the tribe Aepycerotini, per ITIS. Taxonomists once lumped it in with the gazelles, the kobs and the hartebeests, then decided it was different enough from all of them to stand alone.

That's the real reason the impala isn't a gazelle. Some safari blogs say it's because only male impala have horns, but horns don't decide classification; ancestry does.

The confusion is understandable. An impala is about gazelle-sized, fawn and white, and it lives in the same parks. You'll see far more of them than of any gazelle, too: there are around two million common impala, and they turn up in woodland across East and southern Africa.

Impala vs gazelle: how to tell them apart

Four quick checks separate an impala from a gazelle, and you can usually make the first one before the vehicle has stopped.

The horns

Only male impala have horns, and they're long, ridged and shaped like a lyre, up to 92 cm. A herd of hornless females with one or two horned males is almost certainly impala. In a gazelle herd most adults of both sexes carry horns, although female Thomson's gazelles have thin spikes or none at all.

The markings

An impala is two-tone: a reddish-brown back over paler flanks, with a white belly. Look for a black tuft of hair low on each hind leg, which covers a scent gland. The black streaks on each buttock and down the tail make a rough letter M, which is why impala get called the McDonald's of the bush.

A Thomson's gazelle has a bold black stripe along each flank instead. A Grant's gazelle has a faint stripe or none, and a white rump patch that reaches up above the tail.

Where they stand

Impala like the edge between woodland and grass, usually close to water, because they both graze and browse. Gazelles prefer open plains, and the Grant's gazelle can go a long time without drinking because it gets most of its water from plants.

How they move

A startled impala herd explodes in every direction, with leaps up to 3 m high and 10 m long. Gazelles stot instead: they bounce straight up on stiff legs before running, a display thought to tell a predator it has been spotted. The Thomson's gazelle can run at up to 80 km/h, and cheetahs are its main predator.

The cheetah is the one predator that can catch a Tommy at full stretch. GPS collars have clocked a wild cheetah at 93 km/h, and our cheetah vs leopard guide covers how to tell it from the leopard hunting the same plains.

Thomson's vs Grant's gazelle

Out on the Serengeti you'll often see both gazelles in the same view, so it helps to know which is which.

The easiest tell is the rump, which helps because a gazelle is often walking away from you. On a Grant's the white patch always runs up above the tail onto the back, the African Wildlife Foundation notes. On a Thomson's it stops at the tail. If the animal is facing you, check the face instead: the Snapshot Serengeti camera-trap project points out that a Grant's dark face stripe runs through the eye to the horns, giving it a masked look, while a Tommy's stops at the eye.

Where to see antelopes, gazelles and impala in Tanzania

Almost every park in Tanzania has antelopes, but each has its own mix. The table combines our park guides with our own catalogue: out of the 201 safaris listed on GetSafariTours, the last column counts how many name each species in their day-by-day plans.

Impala are the one antelope you can count on almost everywhere. The well-known gap is the Ngorongoro Crater floor: no impala at all, but plenty of Thomson's and Grant's gazelles. For the widest mix on a short northern trip, Tarangire is the standout, with impala, gerenuk, fringe-eared oryx and lesser kudu in one park. It's where our guests reliably see the gerenuk and the oryx.

The Serengeti is the gazelle capital. Several hundred thousand Thomson's gazelles move with the wildebeest and zebra of the Great Migration, which our migration guide follows month by month.

For the specialists, head south or east. Ruaha has sable and roan antelope, which you'll rarely see in the northern parks, as well as both kudus. Mkomazi is a stronghold for gerenuk and lesser kudu, and Nyerere adds greater kudu, sable and Lichtenstein's hartebeest in its miombo woodland.

Seeing them on a safari

A classic northern circuit covers all three in a week. Start in Tarangire for impala and the dry-country specialists. Spend three or four days in the Serengeti for both gazelles and the wildebeest herds, then finish in the Ngorongoro Crater with its gazelles grazing close to the tracks. Our 7-day Classic Serengeti Wildebeest Migration with Get Together Adventures follows that route.

If sable, roan or greater kudu matter to you, the southern parks change the plan, and our southern Tanzania guide explains how Ruaha and Nyerere fit together.

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Frequently asked questions

On the first day of a safari it's easy to drive straight past the antelopes on the way to the lions. By the third day you're pointing out the impala ram with the lyre-shaped horns, the gerenuk standing on its hind legs, the Tommy's tail that never stops flicking, and the safari starts to feel less like a checklist and more like a place you're learning to read.