Wildlife
Bongo

Bongos are African forests’ largest antelopes, considered Near Threatened since 2008. Their patchy distribution over northern Congo and near-disappearance in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park following an epidemic of flies is worrying evidence of the fragility of the region’s species and ecosystems, and their sensitivity to climate change.
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CONSERVATION STATUS: NEAR THREATENED

With a dwindling population of 30,000, the bongo’s situation could rapidly worsen

With fewer than 100 individuals remaining, the eastern subspecies is virtually extinct

The bongo is one of the most elusive sightings in Nouabalé-Ndoki, despite its size

Tragelaphus eurycerus eurycerus

Local names: Mbongo

  • Lowland bongos (ssp. eurycerus) live in herds, in lowland forests in West, Central, and Eastern Africa. Mountain bongos (ssp. isaaci), virtually extinct, are found in mountains and highland forests in Kenya.
  • Bongos are herbivores, mainly nocturnal, with a distinctive brownish-red coat, black and white markings and yellow and white stripes. Both males and females have long, spiraling horns (75 cm - 99 cm).
  • They favour low vegetation in forest areas with broken canopies, where there are natural clearings, areas disturbed by elephants or logging.
CHALLENGES

 

Until the mid-1990s, bongos were thriving in Congo, especially in the north, where they are traditionally not targeted by hunters, as eating bongo meat is a local taboo. Still, bongos face other threats:

  • Climate change: their populations in and around Nouabalé-Ndoki collapsed around 1997 after an abnormally heavy rainy season triggered an increase in Stomoxys flies, whose bites weakened dozens of bongos found dead within a few weeks
  • Trophy hunting: unsustainable hunting quotas threatened to drive the remaining bongos to local extinction in the buffer zone of Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, where an estimated 81-150 bongos are left
  • Habitat fragmentation: with a dwindling population spread over a wide range, ecosystem fragmentation linked to road construction could threaten the species’ survival
OUR APPROACH

 

WCS was at the forefront of efforts to understand the origins of bongo population losses in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the late 1990s, then at the forefront of efforts to advocate the reduction of trophy hunting quotas to zero.

Their population is still slowly recovering. It benefits from the improved protection of the area, and particularly of the elephants, which are an umbrella species (whose protection benefits other species).

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