Zoo staff celebrate birth of critically-endangered mountain bongo calf

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A Hampshire zoo is celebrating the birth of a critically-endangered mountain bongo calf as the latest in a baby boom at the centre.

The male calf was born on September 4 and staff at Marwell Zoo, near Winchester, have said they have been impressed the youngster’s “feistiness”.

The birth is the latest in a number of new arrivals in recent weeks including a male Rothschild’s giraffe, a female zebra foal, which has been named Yahna, and a tiny sitatunga born this week.

The zoo also welcomed four female Przewalski’s horse foals earlier in the year named Xaela, Shara, Ereen and Biluu.

The bongo calf was born to mother Jumapili (meaning Sunday in Swahili), which arrived at the zoo with its previous calf, Kaska, last year.

Rhiannon Wolff, animal keeper, hoofstock, said: “The team is excited to announce the birth of a male mountain bongo to mum Jumapili.

“The calf has been very confident, energetic and adventurous right from the start. He appears quite feisty and has been confidently exploring more and more of his habitat every day – bravely greeting the lesser kudu this week.

“Mountain bongo are the largest and heaviest forest antelope species and they can be found in four isolated populations in patches of forest in Kenya.

“Their conservation status is currently critically endangered, with only around 100 animals left in the wild, with their numbers declining.

“This calf is a very important part of the breeding programme and European Ex-situ Programme (EEP)  (the species studbook) which endeavours to ensure the survival of this species.”

A Marwell spokeswoman said: “When they are young, all bongo calves have a chestnut coat with thin white stripes. They have large floppy ears that they grow into as they get older.

“In the wild, calves are often left hidden in vegetation after birth to conceal them from predators such as leopards.

“The calf is currently spending most of his time in his bed stall with Jumapili checking in and feeding him throughout the day.

“As he gets older, he will start to venture out more and his chestnut-red colouring will darken to a similar shade as his father, Ituri.

“Leopards are the main predators of bongos and when under threat they will run into the forest with their horns held against the back of their necks, so they don’t get snagged on the undergrowth.

“The species faces a number of threats, including hunting with dogs and loss of habitat as well as the risk of diseases from domestic cattle.”