Conservationists Reintroduce Mountain Bongos to Kenyan Forests

Conservationists in Kenya are reintroducing mountain bongos into the wild in an effort to rebuild the population of the critically endangered antelope indigenous to the country's forests. The mountain bongo, known for its brown skin and distinct white stripes, has become difficult to spot in dense vegetation.

With fewer than 100 individuals left in the wild, the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy is breeding the animals and gradually releasing them, with a goal of reaching 750 wild bongos by 2050.

The conservancy, located on the slopes of Mount Kenya near Nanyuki, works to restore the survival instincts of zoo-bred bongos. The animals are taught to feed without human assistance, evade predators and develop immunity to diseases before release. Last week the conservancy imported four male bongos from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria through the Czech Republic.

These animals are currently quarantined and under observation. They will interbreed with descendants of 18 bongos that arrived from the United States in 2004 to increase genetic diversity. The head of the conservancy said inbreeding among animals with similar genes is avoided while rebuilding the population.

"We want bongos that are not only strong in body, but strong in the genes they pass to the next generation," he said. Mountain bongos are native to Kenya’s Mount Kenya, Aberdare, Eburu and Mau forests. These forests help protect water supplies for the country.

The last wild bongo in Mount Kenya forest was spotted in 1994. The conservancy released the first 10 bongos back into the wild in 2022. The animals now roam among orange climber vines and shrubs that form part of their preferred diet.

The population declined after disease outbreaks killed thousands in the 1960s. In the 1980s, conservationist Don Hunt exported 36 bongos to the United States to be bred in captivity as an insurance population. When the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy opened in 2004, 18 descendants of those animals were brought in and have since produced a captive population of 102 bongos.

One employee who grew up in the Mount Kenya region said her grandmother had described bongos as her community’s favorite bush meat. She first saw the animals only after beginning work as a gardener at the conservancy. "I never knew the bongos were this beautiful, and I think my community loved them not just for the meat but because of their beauty," she said.

The bongos are shy and able to camouflage despite their stripes, traits that aid survival. The bongo program assistant at the conservancy said the animals are monitored for months before release to ensure the shyest individuals are selected, as more docile ones are vulnerable to predators.

He described the birth of the fourth wild calf last year as a key sign that the population is beginning to grow in its native habitat.

Bongos have a nine-month gestation period, which has slowed population growth. They are also sensitive to certain plants and weather conditions. Conservancy staff supplement the animals’ shrub diet with special pellets while thousands of annual visitors observe the antelopes’ spiraled horns.