17 Mountain Bongo land in Kenya from America

Seventeen Mountain Bongo landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi on Sunday night from Florida in the US, before translocation to a special sanctuary in Buuri Sub County, Meru County.

The Meru County Bongo and Black Rhino Conservation Trust completed creating a 25 acre sanctuary in readiness for Mountain Bongo, a rare species that once roamed Meru in abundance.

The trust’s patron, Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza and Chairman John Kinoti have been at the forefront of planning for the project meant to conserve the critically endangered species.

On Monday, Mwangaza announced the arrival of the endangered animals.

"Finally Tumefika! (They have arrived, finally). We thank God. 17 Bongos, 12 females and 5 males arrived. We will be having Meru County welcoming occasion once the bongos settle. Thank you to all the partners," she said.

The second phase of the conservation efforts will involve the creation of a 250 acre sanctuary for the conservation of the endangered Black Rhino, in Mucheene-Ntirimiti area, part of the Mount Kenya Forest.

The 17 Bongo were placed in specially made crates and flown to Nairobi aboard a jetliner.

Mwangaza and the trust chairman John Kinoti said the Mountain Bongo were on the brink of extinction, and the trust had put in place adequate measures to ensure the animals arrived in Kenya safely.

A temporary holding area fitted with paddocks had been set up to enable the animals to acclamatise and settle after landing, before they are released to the wild which is heavily guarded.

Kinoti said people will initially not be able to see or interact with the animals.

He revealed that the country has less than 100 Mountain Bongo and the trust had taken stringent steps to ensure the animals survival and multiplication.“There are so many restrictions we have to take up but the future is great,” he said.

Until the flight to Kenya the animals were inside an area measuring between 15 to 20 acres where they have been under the care of the Florida Rare Species Conservatory Foundation (RSCF).

Kinoti revealed that the bongos, aged between three and seven, were to be flown in as transporting them by sea would take too long and cause them much stress.“There will be girls and five boys, all virgins!” he said.

“From Florida there will be one stop for refueling then direct to Nairobi. They will then be offloaded by KWS, take four hours by road and released into sanctuary. We are praying hard that there will be no casualties,” he said.

The Lewa Conservancy and Rare Species Conservatory Foundation secured Mountain Bongo import permits and veterinary protocols through Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

Governor Mwangaza said they received an importation license from the KWS and the aim now was to promote their multiplication which will spur tourism and create economic opportunities for the county and the country.

"The Bongos will be placed in spacious, specially built, fence-protected enclosures where they will be closely observed to ensure their acclimation,” she said.

“This project demonstrates the first effort in several decades of a public-private partnership of its kind in Kenya aimed to re-introduce a wildlife species that had gone extinct within the northern slope of the Mt.Kenya Forest,” said Mwangaza.

“It brings together key stakeholders with the highest level of experience and expertise in wildlife conservation to join hands with the local communities to bring back and protect rare species for the benefit of conservation and economic development,” she added.

"The bongo groups will be protected to breed and thrive, providing future generations to be re-wilded into Mt. Kenya’s forest ecosystem."

In the 1970s the Mount Kenya forest in Meru teemed with hundreds of Mountain Bongo, a forest antelope.

But the local communities’ insatiable appetite for the bongo and other game meat, coupled with loss of habitat due to agriculture and other vagaries of nature, reduced their numbers severely.

Locals went on a hunting spree in Meru and other forests and decimated the bongo population.

In 70s there were about 500 mountain bongos  but today there are less than 100 only, found in mount Kenya ecosystem, in Aberdares and in Mau ecosystems.

But Mount Kenya forest’s Mucheene-Ntirimiti-Marania forest area, will be the new home for the bongos and black rhinos.

The new bongo and black rhino sanctuary is being spearheaded by the Meru Bongo and Rhino Conservation Trust in partnership with Kenya Forest Service, KWS, Lewa Conservancy, Rare Species Conservatory Foundation, Florida International University’s Tropical Conservation Institute and local community forest associations.