The Impala is a water-dependent and typical ecotone species, associated with light woodlands and savannahs, selecting open Acacia savannas with nutrient-rich soils providing good-quality grass, and high-quality browse in the dry season (Fritz and Bourgarel 2013). Impala are absent from montane ecosystems, recorded to about 1,700 m on the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro (Grimshaw et al. 1995). In their semi-arid environment, Black-faced Impala also select the interface between wooded savanna and open grassy vleis (Joubert 1971, Matson et al. 2005).

The Impala (Aepyceros melampus) formerly occurred widely in southern and East Africa, from central and southern Kenya and north-east Uganda to northern KwaZulu-Natal, with a small disjunct population of Black-faced Impala in north-west Namibia and south-east Angola. Their current distribution remains largely unchanged from their historical range, although it has been eliminated from parts by hunting for meat and the spread of settlement (e.g., they now only occur in south-west Uganda, and have been extirpated from Burundi) (East 1999, Fritz and Bourgarel 2013). Common Impala have been introduced to numerous privately owned game ranches and small reserves throughout southern Africa. Impala have also been introduced in two protected areas in Gabon, although here they are in decline (P. Chardonnet pers. comm). In Namibia, the Black-faced Impala is naturally confined to the Kaokoland in the north-west, and neighbouring south-western Angola.

The Common Impala is one of the most abundant antelopes in Africa, with about one-quarter of the population occurring in protected areas. The largest numbers occurring in areas such as the Mara and Kajiado (Kenya), Serengeti, Ruaha and Selous (Tanzania), Luangwa Valley (Zambia), Okavango (Botswana), Hwange, Sebungwe and the Zambezi Valley (Zimbabwe), Kruger (South Africa) and on private farms and conservancies (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia) (East 1999). Its future is secure as long as it continues to occur in large, adequately protected and managed populations in protected areas and private farms and conservancies. The main surviving populations of the Black-faced Impala occur in Etosha National Park and private farms in Namibia. The numbers of the Black-faced Impala should continue to increase in protected areas and on private land, although it remains at potential risk from hybridization with the Common Impala (East 1999). The Namibian government has a management plan to eliminate hybridization with Common Impala and strictly regulate harvests. The Namibian Professional Hunters Association has a Black-faced Impala committee and the NGO Conservation Force has a long-term involvement in all aspects of its conservation including funding of the management plan. Good management practices make the future of the taxon secure for now (J. Jackson in litt to ASG 2007).