Mountain bongos thrive on transitional vegetation on the edges of forests and in new growth areas following damage such as landslides, elephant disturbances and logging. They are herbivorous browsers, feeding on herbs, shrubs, creepers and bark. They visit mineral licks for salt and can eat burnt wood for its mineral content. They are mostly nocturnal and while bulls are solitary, females with calves travel in groups of up to ten.
Fun fact – Their spiral horns are used to dig up sapling roots to eat, and can reach 99cm long!
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Ecology
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Threats
This species has experienced dramatic population decline due to being hunted by local people’s domestic dogs and predated on by lions introduced to the Aberdares mountains. Illegal logging is reducing the forest available to them, and they are also susceptible to cattle-carried diseases such as Rinderpest which proved fatal to many bongos.
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Conservation
A captive breeding programme is in progress in a Mount Kenya game ranch, with the aim of reintroducing these individuals to the wild in future. Research is also being done into the ecology of the Mountain Bongo. The Bongo Surveillance Programme also studies the largest group for information which could help shape future conservation work. Nature’s SAFE stores samples to increase the genetic diversity of future populations of Mountain bongos to aid their chances long-term survival.
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Preserved January 2024
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