Baby bongo. Photo courtesy of ZSL Whipsande Zoo.
A female bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus) was born at the Zoological Society of London’s Whipsnade Zoo last month.
“The calf and her mum are happy to sit with other members of the group and the calf is not always found with mum—babysitting is common with the bongo,” Mark Holden, Africa section leader at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, said in a press release.
Stunningly colored antelopes, bongos are found throughout West and Central Africa, preferring lowland, swampy habitats. They are listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List and are imperiled by bushmeat hunting and habitat loss. However, a subspecies of the bongo is also found in Kenya; known as the mountain bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci, this subspecies is listed as Critically Endangered with its total population only around 75-140 animals.
Baby bongo. Photo courtesy of ZSL Whipsande Zoo.
Baby bongo. Photo courtesy of ZSL Whipsande Zoo.