Kenya’s mountain bongo, described by those who track it as the “ghost of the forest,” is returning to the wild as conservationists work to rebuild a population that has nearly vanished from nature.
The mountain bongo is a critically endangered species that conservationists say is hard to spot because it camouflages in dense shrubs. Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, based in the Nanyuki area on the misty slopes of Mount Kenya, said it has been breeding bongos and reintroducing them into the wild as part of a long-term effort to expand the number of animals that live in Kenya’s forests. The conservancy said it aims to raise the wild population to 750 by 2050.
Conservationists also framed the reintroduction effort around survival skills they want the animals to develop on their own. Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy said its work is aimed at helping zoo-bred bongos feed without human assistance, escape from predators and build immunity against diseases in the wild.
The conservancy said that last week it imported a new batch of four male bongos from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria through the Czech Republic. It said the four animals are currently quarantined and under constant observation, and it expects them to interbreed with descendants already at the conservancy as part of efforts to broaden the genetic pool.
Dr. Robert Aruho, the conservancy’s head, said inbreeding among bongos with similar genes is discouraged while the population is rebuilt. “We want bongos that are not only strong in body, but strong in the genes they pass to the next generation,” he said.
Bongos were historically native to Kenya’s Mount Kenya, Aberdare, Eburu and Mau forests, where they play a role in protecting wooded areas described as vital to the country’s water supply. The conservancy said the last wild bongo was spotted in the Mount Kenya forest in 1994, before it began reintroducing animals to the wild. The conservancy said it released the first 10 bongos in 2022, and it said the animals now roam among shrubs and orange climber vines that form part of their favorite plants.
The current program traces to earlier captive-breeding efforts. The conservancy said the bongo population dwindled after thousands of animals died in disease outbreaks in the 1960s, and it said that in the 1980s conservationist Don Hunt exported 36 of the species to the United States as an insurance population for breeding in captivity with a later plan to return the animals to the wild. When Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy opened in 2004, it said it imported 18 descendants from those U.S.-bred bongos, and that they have since interbred, bringing the conservancy’s population to 102 bongos.
Arūho described how the animal’s camouflage helps it survive. “When a bongo stands behind a green bush, they are completely camouflaged, you can never see them,” he said. “They are like ghosts of the forest, you can’t easily see a bongo when it is in the bush.”
The conservancy’s staff said the behavior also complicates reintroduction because bongos are shy and depend on staying hidden. Andrew Mulani, the bongo program assistant, said the conservancy monitors the animals for months before release, and he said it selects the shyest individuals so docile animals do not fall easily to predators. He said one sign of progress came when the fourth calf was born in the wild last year, which he said indicates the bongos are thriving in their native habitat and that the population will increase.
Local residents describe the return of the species as both a cultural and conservation story. Caroline Makena, 33, said she grew up in the Mount Kenya region and remembered hearing stories from her grandmother about bongos as the community’s favorite bush meat, but she said she did not see one until she began working 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 conservancy said bongos have a gestation period of nine months, which it said has slowed population growth, and it said bongos are sensitive to some plants and weather conditions compared with other antelopes in the same ecosystem. As it continues the reintroduction program, Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy said it also supplements the bongos’ shrub diet with special nutritious pellets, while tourists who visit the conservancy annually watch for the spiral horns of the animals in hopes that the “ghost” of the forest will become more common across Kenya’s mountain forests.