Bongo Population Increases By One At South Africa's National Zoo

By Angeliné Cronje

Pretoria, South Africa - A frisky little Bongo calf has become the latest addition to the Bongo family at the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa. This rare antelope was born on 9 October 2008 and is the Zoo’s pair of Bongo’s first youngster! The gender of the young Bongo is still to be determined.

The National Zoo houses a breeding pair of Bongos – the male arrived from the Singapore Zoological Gardens in 2007 and is five years old. The female was born at the National Zoo in 2001. This is the first youngster to be born at the National Zoo since 1997.

The Bongos form part of the National Zoo’s Heart of Africa display along with the Okapi and the Sable antelope.

Bongo populations are severely on the decline, according to the World Conservation Union’s IUCN Red Data List. Found in Equatorial Guinea in western Africa, the Bongo’s numbers are on the decline due to habitat loss and hunting pressures due to the expansion of human settlements and commercial forestry in their territory. Bongos need thick vegetation, both for camouflage and feeding.

With an interesting and unique colouration, Bongos exhibit a rich chestnut coloured coat with white stripes running vertically across its back. Both sexes have lyre-shaped horns. A male Bongo can weigh in the region of 240-405kg, with the female being smaller at between 210 and 253kg.

Bongos are an extremely elusive and shy species and as such a large portion of the information known about them comes from animals kept in conservation facilities. Males tend to be solitary animals and the females and calves co-exist in the troop.

Bizarre bongo tidbits

* Bongos are the largest forest antelope in the world.

* Native people believe that if they eat the meat of a Bongo or touch it, they will experience spasms similar to epileptic seizures. Because of this superstition Bongos have mostly not been hunted in their territories.

* In order to swiftly run through the dense forest vegetation, Bongos have been seen to tilt their chins up, causing their horns to lie flat against their backs. This constant rubbing of horn against fur often causes a visible bald spot on the Bongo’s back.