Bringing the boys back home': how mountain bongos Maue, Fitz, Kudu and Bon64 made their way back to Kenya

A cargo plane delivered four mountain bongo antelopes to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after a two-week quarantine and care period in Czechia. The operation followed a decades-long effort to rescue a species with fewer than 100 individuals counted in the wild. Mountain bongos are endemic to Kenya’s highland forests, including the Aberdares, Mount Kenya, the Mau, and the Eburu. At the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, keepers and a wildlife officer spent time learning each animal’s routine and building trust before transport. The bongos were isolated indoors in a quarantine facility, and each male showed a distinct personality, requiring tailored handling. A 100th calf was recently born at the conservancy.

"“We are bringing the boys home,” says Ngenoh Erick Kibet, a wildlife officer at the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, as a cargo plane carrying four mountain bongo touches down on a wet runway at Jomo Kenyatta international airport. The operation is the culmination of two weeks spent in Czechia, a first flight for Kibet, and a decades-long collective effort to rescue a species on the edge of extinction.”"

"“The mountain bongo may seem like any other antelope but no more than 100 have been counted in the wild. They are endemic to Kenya's highland forests: the Aberdares, Mount Kenya, the Mau and the Eburu. For Kibet and Christine Gichohi, an animal keeper at the conservancy, spending time with these critically endangered antelopes on a daily basis is more than a job, it is key to ensuring that the species thrives.”"

"“The four bongos they were bringing back Fitz, Maue, Kudu and Bon64 had been held in a quarantine facility, isolated from other animals and cared for indoors, their world condensed to an enclosed space. Gichohi and Kibet spent two weeks there, learning the animals' routines, earning their trust and studying each bongo. Mountain bongos are the shiest antelopes, Gichohi says. Even if they are tamed, 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 the journey home could begin. Wildlife officer Ngenoh Erick Kibet and animal keeper Christine Gichohi Maue is gentle, settled and the one who made everything easier. He was very friendly and calm, Kibet says. You could get in where he was without any fear.”"

Read at www.theguardian.com