Fresh hope for critically endangered and rare mountain bongo

A Mountain Bongo sips water from a tap at the expansive Mawingu Sanctuary. [Mose Sammy, Standard]

The mountain bongo is one of the rarest large antelopes in the world and is only naturally found in Kenya.

It lives in thick highland forests such as the Aberdare Range, Mount Kenya, the Mau Forest and the Cherangani Hills.

Unlike the lowland bongo, which is found in several West and Central African countries, the mountain bongo survives only in these Kenyan upland forests.

According to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the animal is classified as critically endangered because wild numbers have fallen sharply over the last few decades.

Its decline was driven by a mix of legal hunting in earlier years, later poaching, habitat loss, forest degradation, predation and steady human encroachment into mountain ecosystems.

Researchers believe that in the 1970s the Aberdare Forest alone held several hundred bongos.

By the 1990s many local populations had collapsed and some forest blocks no longer held a single confirmed animal.

Because the mountain bongo is shy, mostly nocturnal and lives in very dense forest cover, its disappearance was slow and at times hard to measure.

Footprints and dung

Trackers often depended on footprints and dung rather than sightings. Conservation groups say that for many years even those signs became rare.

The KWS notes that the wild population has struggled to recover because most of the surviving animals remain in isolated forest pockets where threats are still present.

A turning point came from an unexpected source. During the 20th century some mountain bongos had been taken to zoos in North America and Europe.

These captive populations survived and bred well. Their numbers overseas eventually became far stronger than the tiny population left in the wild.

By the early 2000s conservationists began to consider whether captive bongos could help rebuild Kenya’s own population.

The Rare Species Conservatory Foundation, which had been caring for a strong breeding group in the United States, worked with Kenyan authorities to coordinate a repatriation plan.

In 2003 and 2004 a group of 18 mountain bongos was brought from North American zoos back to Kenya and settled at a breeding facility on the slopes of Mount Kenya.

Organisations involved at the time described the transfer as the first major step towards restoring the subspecies to its original range.
Breeding within Kenya continued under the care of wildlife experts, and over time the project expanded.

In 2025 a second transfer brought another group of 17 bongos from the United States to Kenya. Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, which helped build a specialised sanctuary to receive them, said the return marked an important moment for Kenya’s natural heritage and created new hope for the subspecies.

The new sanctuary is designed not only to keep the animals secure but to teach natural behaviours, support breeding and prepare individuals for future release in forest blocks such as Mount Kenya, the Aberdares and the Maasai Mau.

Alongside these breeding efforts, monitoring in the wild has improved. Kenyan rangers and conservancies now use camera traps, DNA testing from dung samples, motion sensors and regular forest patrols. According to the Mountain Bongo Project, these tools have made it easier to confirm where small groups of bongos still live.

The Aberdare Forest remains one of the strongest natural refuges and has been a priority site for protection.

The Mau complex also holds a fragile but important population. Conservation organisations say that protecting the bongo has wider benefits because the animal is considered an umbrella species for mountain forests.

When its habitat is protected, so too are other rare animals such as the Jackson’s mongoose, the yellow-backed duiker and the giant pangolin.

These forests are also part of Kenya’s main water towers, which supply water to millions of people, meaning that safeguarding the bongo supports both biodiversity and human well-being.

The KWS notes that the future of the mountain bongo depends on secure habitats, strong community links and long-term funding rather than short bursts of support.

Community projects such as water harvesting tanks, beekeeping and school wildlife clubs have already reduced forest pressure and strengthened local understanding of why the bongo matters.

Conservationists agree that breeding and repatriation alone cannot save the species. What will make the difference is continued protection of forests, careful release of captive-bred animals, and constant monitoring to keep poaching and habitat loss in check.

After decades of decline, the mountain bongo still faces a difficult road, but conservation groups believe that the combination of repatriation, local breeding, community involvement and forest protection gives the subspecies its best chance in generations.

The story of its survival is now shaped by Kenyan rangers, researchers and communities working together to ensure that this rare antelope remains part of the country’s highland forests for years to come.