Four critically endangered mountain bongos returned to Kenya from the Czech Republic on April 29, according to the Kenyan government and wildlife officials, as part of a multi-step conservation plan to reintroduce the striped antelopes to native forests.
The animals arrived in wooden crates at Kenya’s main airport, traveling from Dvur Kralove Zoo, where they had been kept for years. Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Tourism Minister Rebecca Miano were among those at the airport to greet the returnees, with Miano describing it as a “homecoming of the majestic bongos,” the Associated Press reported.
Officials said the mountain bongo is rare and faces steep survival pressures in its natural range. Kenya’s government has declared the species critically endangered, citing poaching and diseases, and said there are fewer than 100 mountain bongos left in the wild.
The return follows a longer history of moving mountain bongos to European zoos after a major outbreak of rinderpest killed thousands of animals decades ago. AP reported that many of today’s captive population were sent to Europe in the 1980s after that outbreak, and that some have now been included in the latest transfer to Kenya.
The bongos will not be released immediately. After a period of quarantine and acclimatization, Kenya plans to send the four animals to the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, which houses 102 bongos, according to the AP report.
Conservancy officials said they run a national recovery plan for the mountain bongo in collaboration with the government, and they plan to use the four new arrivals to interbreed and strengthen the gene pool. The conservancy’s approach is aimed at improving the genetic diversity of the population already under its care ahead of release efforts.
Kenyan-raised nature explorers and filmmakers Jahawi and Elke Bertolli told AP that the returning bongos are expected to bring genetic variation that is critical to conservation, and they also pointed to the role mountain bongos play in protecting forests tied to Kenya’s water supply.
The Czech Republic’s ambassador to Kenya, Nicol Adamcova, said the relocation reflects a “long-standing partnership” between the Czech Republic and Kenya in conservation and a shared commitment to protecting endangered species. Mudavadi said such milestones show what conservation policy, science, and collaboration can achieve when coordinated toward a common goal.