‘Bringing the boys back home’: how mountain bongos Maue, Fitz, Kudu and Bon64 made their way back to Kenya | Kenya
“WWe’re taking the boys home,” says Ngenoh Erick Kibet, wildlife manager at Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, as a cargo plane carrying four mountain bongos lands on a wet runway at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
The operation is the culmination of two weeks in the Czech Republic, a first flight to Kibet and a decades-long collective effort to save a species on the brink of extinction.
The mountain bongo may look like any other antelope, but there are no more than 100 of them in the wild. They are endemic to the Kenyan highland forests: the Aberdares, Mount Kenya, Mau and Eburu. For Kibet and Christine Gichohi, an animal keeper at the reserve, spending time daily with these critically endangered antelopes is more than a job, it’s the key to ensuring the species thrives.
The trip to Czechia was the first time Gichohi and Kibet had left Kenya. The four bongos they brought back – Fitz, Maue, Kudu and Bon64 – had been held in a quarantine center, isolated from other animals and cared for indoors, their world condensed into an enclosed space. Gichohi and Kibet spent two weeks there, learning the animals’ routines, gaining their trust and studying each bongo.
“Mountain bongos are the shyest antelopes,” Gichohi explains. “Even if they are tame, that shyness and curiosity will still be there.” Each of the four males has a distinct personality and the keepers had to get to know them before they could begin the journey home.
Maue is sweet, calm and the one who made everything easier. “He was very friendly and calm,” Kibet said. “You could walk in where he was without any fear.” In the Czech establishment, it was Maue who licked Kibet’s arm. It seems like a small gesture. This was not the case.
Then there’s Fitz – “the aggressive one,” says Gichohi. “He is one of the bongos that must be handled with great care. He is not that friendly to humans.”
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Clockwise from top left: Maue, Fitz, Bon64 and Kudu: The species is extremely shy and curious, but each animal has a distinct personality, which can affect how they adapt to a new environment.
Kudu has trust issues. “You need to create a relationship with him before he will allow you to wander into his enclosure,” says Gichohi. It was Kudu who put them through the most difficult times in the Czech Republic.
Bon64, the youngest, is curious, prone to frightening, upsetting his feeder and fleeing from new faces. “Being curious is a good thing,” Gichohi says. “This will allow it to protect its territory and survive with other animals in the wild.”
The transfer was led by experts from Chester Zoo in England, in collaboration with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The morning the bongos were moved from their quarantine enclosure into shipping crates for the ride to the airport, it was tense. “We had to increase the numbers to facilitate the movement,” explains Kibet. “For them, they were quite curious and not comfortable.”
Once in flight, there was no way to sleep. “It was a mixed reaction,” Kibet says, “because you’re excited and at the same time you have to be very vigilant.” Both men monitored their breathing, watched for movement against the cage walls and were ready to alert the veterinary team at the first sign of distress. “Excitement was all over my face,” Kibet says of the moment the plane landed. “I think I was the happiest person on the team.”
The journey to bring mountain bongos home began in 2004, when 18 individuals were repatriated from North American zoos to the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy. These four males are part of a second wave, intended to strengthen the conservancy’s genetic pool.
Gichohi and Kibet, who spend their days in the field and know each animal by name, temperament and eating habits, are keenly aware of the fragile state of the species both in captivity and in the wild. But, Kibet said, “There is hope for the future, given that we are bringing in the four boys to increase the gene pool within the facility that we have.” »
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Top: Gichohi and Kibet spend their days taking care of the animals. They are fed only freshly prepared vegetables, such as red pepper, carrots and kale. Bottom: Shoes should be disinfected to prevent the spread of bacteria and fungus to new bongos.
Gichohi has watched the numbers change since he arrived at the reserve. “I was born and raised around the Mount Kenya forest,” she says. “Growing up, I saw wild animals and the challenges we face as community members with wildlife. »
Kibet’s journey into conservation began as a third-year university student when, during a field trip to the conservatory in 2017, he saw staff rushing across the grounds. He asked his teacher what was happening. A bongo was not feeling well and was being treated by veterinarians.
“I saw how much people really cared about them,” he says. He applied for an internship the following year. When a job opened up, he applied again. “What keeps me here is that I want to see these animals in the wild. Not my grandchildren who see them in books.”
Meanwhile, the four bongos are installed. Kudu and Maue love to dig the ground, pour their water, mark their presence. “It’s a good sign,” says Gichohi, “that they are now comfortable in the new environment.”
Thanks in part to the work of people like Gichohi and Kibet, there are now 179 mountain bongos in the wild and in captivity in Kenya, up from 150 in 2021. The conservatory’s captive herd, which once numbered 54 animals in 2021, had grown to 93 before the arrival of the four males. And recently, a 100th bongo calf was born on the reserve, a moment the organization described not as a statistic but as proof that their efforts matter and that the future of this species is viable.
“I’m part of it,” Gichohi says of ongoing conservation efforts. “It’s a very nice thing: to be part of something where you can see the impact in your lifetime.”
