Bongo

Quick Take

• In some parts of Africa, a bizarre local superstition actually shields Bongos from hunters, and this protection has nothing to do with conservation law. Discover the local superstition →
• Bongos have a strange mid-sprint habit that sounds like it would slow them down, and yet it is the very reason they can vanish into dense jungle almost instantly. See the jungle escape trick →
• A single disease outbreak in the 1800s came terrifyingly close to erasing Bongos entirely, and the species remains just as vulnerable today. Explore disease and vulnerability →
• The Bongo's daily mud ritual isn't just about staying cool. There's a second purpose that says a lot about how these animals are built. Uncover the mud ritual purpose →

In many areas throughout their natural range, Bongos have been hunted by people for meat but also became a prized target for big-game trophy hunters, which devastated local populations. The biggest impact that people have had on the Bongo, though, is the fact that vast areas of their natural habitats have been cleared for agriculture and livestock grazing. This increasing proximity to humans has led to outbreaks of disease in Bongos, along with severe population declines due to their dwindling habitats and, therefore, an increasing lack of both food and suitable forest cover, which Bongos heavily rely on.

Classification And Evolution

The Bongo is a large antelope species found in the jungles and forests of Eastern, Western, and Central Africa. They are the largest forest-dwelling antelope species in Africa and the third-largest antelope in the world, making them one of the most distinctive. They have a chestnut-colored coat and long horns that spiral up to 35.4 inches (90 cm) in males.

The coloration of bongos has evolved over the years to help them blend into their dense surroundings and protect them from predators as they forage. The mountain bongo diverged from the lowland bongo to adapt to the mountainous terrain.

The scientific name of the bongo is Tragelaphus eurycerus, and it is classified in the family Bovidae.

There are only two subspecies of the bongo. They are:

• Mountain Bongo (Eastern Bongo) (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci): The mountain bongo is much rarer than its lowland relatives. They can only be found in the mountains in Kenya and are Critically Endangered. They are larger and heavier, too.
• Lowland Bongo (Western Bongo) (Tragelaphus eurycerus eurycerus): The lowland bongo is more prevalent and primarily found in the forests of Central Africa. Out of all the African forest antelopes, these are the largest and have the most striking colors.

Both subspecies of Bongo are threatened by hunting and habitat loss, with populations having declined significantly enough for them to be listed as a near-threatened species by the IUCN, as although it still has a relatively wide distribution, populations are becoming more and more isolated.

Anatomy and Appearance

The Bongo is a large and heavy-bodied antelope with a short, glossy, orange or chestnut-colored coat that is darker on the underside and patterned with between 10 and 15 vertical white stripes that help the Bongo to remain camouflaged in the dense jungle. They also have distinctive white markings on their cheeks, a white chevron between the eyes and nose, and a white crescent-like shape on their chest.

The legs of the Bongo are banded with both white and black, and their long tail has a tufted tip. Bongos also have large ears, giving them very sensitive hearing, and a long prehensile tongue that allows them to grip leaves higher up and strip them from branches with ease. Their distinctive spiraled horns usually have either one or one-and-a-half twists, with those of males being longer and more coiled than the horns of the slightly smaller and lighter-colored females. Bongos also have a thin mane that runs along their body from the shoulders to the rump.

Distribution and Habitat

The Bongo is natively found inhabiting the dense forests of Eastern, Western, and Central Africa, and although it is still found in several different countries today, populations are decreasing in size, with the Bongo now actually considered to be extinct from some regions.

The Lowland Bongo inhabits the dense lowland forests and bamboo thickets of Western and Central Africa, and although it is still found throughout much of its historical range in Central Africa, it is becoming rarer in the West.

Mountain Bongos were once found in the highland forests of both Kenya and Uganda but are now restricted to just four areas in Kenya after having disappeared from Uganda at the beginning of the twentieth century. Populations have decreased rapidly throughout much of their natural range due to habitat loss, mainly in the form of deforestation.

Behavior and Lifestyle

The Bongo is a shy and elusive animal that people seldom see due to its highly nocturnal lifestyle. As with many other antelope species, Bongos turn and flee almost immediately when they feel threatened and can disappear quickly into the surrounding forest, running with their horns laid back against their body to prevent them from getting tangled up in the vegetation.

Male Bongos are solitary animals and will only come into contact with other Bongos to breed. While females can be found on their own, they often form herds that can contain up to 50 members and consist of the females and their young (for protection). Bongos produce a variety of calls to communicate, including grunts, snorts, moos, and bleats to warn others of approaching danger or when they are in distress.

Reproduction and Life Cycles

Most mating tends to occur between October and January, after which the female Bongo will give birth to a single calf following a gestation period that lasts for around 9 months. To protect the vulnerable calf from predators, females give birth in dense vegetation where she leaves it lying silently for about 1-2 weeks. During this time, the mother returns regularly to nurse her calf, and when the calf is strong enough, they join other females and their young for better protection.

Bongo calves grow relatively fast, and their horns begin to show by the time they are three or four months old. Weaning occurs at six months, but calves tend to remain with the nursery group for longer.

Diet and Prey

The Bongo is a herbivorous mammal, meaning it feeds only on plant matter to gain the nutrition it needs to survive. Bongos are selective browsers that feed on leaves, roots, bark, and grasses under the cover of night to keep them safer from the numerous carnivorous predators that they share their habitats with.

The Bongo has a prehensile tongue, which helps it to reach fresh leaves higher up and also aids it when pulling roots out of the ground. Like other antelopes and cattle (to which they are closely related), the Bongo has a four-chambered ruminating stomach that helps it break down cellulose in plants. Food passes through their digestive system very slowly in comparison to other mammals to maximize their nutritional intake.

Predators and Threats

Bongos are prey to numerous large predators in their surrounding environments, with Leopards being their most common natural threat, along with Lions in certain areas. The young calves are also vulnerable to predation from Pythons and Hyenas throughout much of their natural range.

Another big threat to Bongos is the fact that they are particularly susceptible to disease, with rinderpest having nearly wiped out the entire population in the late 1800s. However, they face the greatest risk from people, who not only hunt them directly and by setting snares but have also cleared much of their vast natural range through deforestation for agriculture and to harvest timber.

Bongo Interesting Facts and Features

Although they tend to be most active between dusk and dawn, Bongos are known to browse during the day occasionally but will never leave the dense vegetation that surrounds them. To help them to cool down in the heat, Bongos wallow in mud, which they then rub onto a tree as a way of polishing their smooth and heavy horns. Despite being hunted for food in many areas, in others, native people hold strong superstitions about the Bongo. Some believe that not only eating but even touching a Bongo will cause the individual to have spasms, and Bongos are therefore relatively safe from hunting in these areas.

Conservation Status and Life Today

Today, the Bongo is listed by the IUCN as an animal that is Near Threatened with extinction from the wild in the near future. Although the Mountain Bongo has always been rare, it is feared that as few as 75 individuals may remain in the highland forests of Kenya, where they are now protected. The Lowland Bongo is becoming rarer in Western Africa, but populations, although decreasing, remain widespread throughout much of their historical range in Central Africa.