Bongo

Bongo have a patchy and uneven distribution in the forests of northern Congo. The bongo feeds on low-level fresh greenery, mixing browse and some grass, and so tends to readily find food in openings in the forest canopy that let in the light necessary for vegetation to flourish on the forest floor. This means that they are frequently found in areas of broken canopy forest, where there are naturally occurring forest clearings, areas of disturbance by elephants or logging. Bongo regularly use mineral licks and ingest soil to assist in digestion.

Bongo are a highly social antelope. Females form core groups with young, with females with new calves seeking each other out once the calves are too large to be concealed in cover. Average group size in northern Congo was found to be 5-6 individuals with groups of up to 23 or more sometimes encountered. Over a six -year period a study using remote camera trapping identified 65 males and 109 females visiting the Mombongo forest-clearing complex in the buffer zone of the NNNP. Males tend to be solitary, when not accompagnying female groups. Bongo are most active at dusk, night, and dawn, and laying up in vegetation during the day to ruminate and rest.

Classed as Lower Risk (Near Threatened) by IUCN, and listed as endangered in Ghana, the bongo is at risk of extinction in parts of its range and its population trend is decreasing. The principal threats to the bongo are hunting and habitat loss, and it is Integrally Protected in the Republic of Congo. Back to top