The world’s first Mountain Bongo Sanctuary opened in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya March 10-Five Mountain Bongos were on Wednesday released into the Mawingu Mountain Bongo Sanctuary, to help save the animal from extinction.

This is the first-ever Mountain Bongo sanctuary in the world, marking a historic milestone in the fight for the animal’s survival, with less than 100 individuals left in the wild.

Najib Balala, the Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, officially opened the 776-acre sanctuary alongside Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy (MKWC).

“The Mountain Bongo is one of Kenya’s most important iconic animals. It is a critically endangered subspecies and can only be found here in Kenya. The opening of the Mawingu Sanctuary today is critical step forward to help complete Mountain Bongo reintroduction end-to-end,” said Balala.

The critically endangered Mountain Bongo is one of the largest forest antelopes and is endemic to the equatorial forests of Kenya (Mount Kenya Forest, Eburu, Mau and Aberdares).

This subspecies once roamed in large numbers but has suffered unprecedented population decline since the 1950s due to poaching, live trade, predation, and disease, particularly the rinderpest outbreak in the 1980s.

However, it has not yet received the same level of international attention as the ‘Big 5’ safari animals, which in part contributed to the recovery of their numbers.

According to the recent National Wildlife Census in Kenya, less than 100 Mountain Bongos are left in the wild.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) predicts that this number will likely continue to decline unless deliberate actions to address the threats are put in place.