“We have our first Kenya born American bongo ! ”

The beautiful little female, still a little wobbly on her legs but apparently in good health, was named Miss Kenya by the Animal Attendants. “Mum”, attentive and caring, was donated by the White Oak Conservation Center of Yulee, Florida in the U.S.A., where “Mum” and her parents were born. She is one of 18 American bred bongo with Kenyan ancestry, recently flown to Kenya for the Bongo Repatriation to Mount Kenya Program.

Miss Kenya’s birth is the culmination of a story that began 40 years ago when Don and Bill began what would become a 10-year project of planning and capturing 20 young bongo in an effort to save a species that was in serious decline and threatened with extinction. With approval of the Kenyan government, these animals were sent to zoos in the United States to form a nucleus-breeding program, for eventual return to their rightful home on Mount Kenya.

In 2006, two years after the 18 American-born bongo were repatriated to their ancestral lands, Don Hunt, Founder Trustee of the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy and Vice President WHWF, announced that five baby bongos have been born to the American herd there. Several more bongos are pregnant, bringing the total herd at the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy to a notable count of 37 animals.

The newest edition to the herd arrived in August, a male calf yet to be named. (For information about naming and adoption please email contact@animalorphanagekenya.org.)

While initially there were losses to the herd because the American bongo did not retain their natural immunity to diseases to which the indigenous herd is immune, it now appears that limited exposure to the new environment over time has helped the bongo to regain their natural defenses. As predicted by the supervising team of Kenyan veterinarians and scientists, the newest generation of Kenyan-born offspring are thriving.

In a preliminary step to the release of breeding herds into the Mount Kenya National Park, three adult males are now in an adjacent wilderness area. While visiting Kenya for a progress report on the project, Ron Surratt, Executive Director of the International Bongo Foundation, USA, said: “The next step will see the animals outfitted with embedded transmitters before release on Mount Kenya. The transmitters will allow the Conservancy's team to track the bongos and evaluate their progress in adapting to their ancestral habitat.”

To read more about the bongo project and the latest arrival, visit the website: www.animalorphanagekenya.org/bongonews.

The William Holden Wildlife Foundation through its Wildlife Education Center will continue to supplement this initiative through its education programs in schools and communities around Mount Kenya.

It has been our pleasure to bring you the continuing story of this repatriation. Here is some additional interesting information – and stay tuned for future updates and pictures.

Bongo have 8 to 14 vertical white stripes on a brilliant russet coat, darkening with age in males. Horns may reach 40 inches.

Bongo prefer dense forest and bamboo thickets. They live in small herds, typically females and young with one dominant male. There are many solitary “Bulls” as well. Almost nocturnal, the bongo rests in thick cover during the day preferring to move during the cool morning and night in search of a diet of leaves, creepers, shrubs, the bark of certain trees, and minerals found in the mountain soil.

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