On March 9, a team of veterinary officers made their way to Mount Kenya in Nanyuki, Laikipia county.
A sub-adult female mountain bongo known as Danni was at ease. She thought the vets were on their regular mission of health checks.
Danni was wrong. She had been earmarked with four other bongos and was set to be moved to the wild, a process called rewilding.
After noticing movements in their breeding place, Danni tilted her chin up, causing her horns to lie flat against their back in order to swiftly manoeuvre through the forest vegetation.
Despite her efforts to manoeuvre through the forest vegetation, Danni was swiftly immobilised via a dart.
This was no ordinary day. Danni was among five mountain bongos that were moved to the Mawingu Mountain Bongo Sanctuary, the first-ever mountain bongo sanctuary in Africa and the world.
The other four were Karama (adult male), Hillary (sub-adult male), Owingo (sub-adult male) and Kavu (sub-adult female).
The animals are used to seeing rangers in khaki green or brown. Yellow, white or red clothing scares the bongos. Any form of noise or unnecessary movements was also not allowed.
The transfer marked a historic milestone in the fight for the animal's survival, with less than 100 individuals left in the wild.
"The real work begins now,” said Dr Robert Aruho, head of veterinary services at the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy.
"We must ensure that the animals released today can thrive and survive in the sanctuary and, eventually, the wild."
Aruho said the transfer was the culmination of dedicated conservation work that has spanned almost two decades.
CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
The critically endangered mountain bongo is one of the largest forest antelopes and is endemic to the equatorial forests of Kenya (Mount Kenya Forest, Eburu, Mau and Aberdares).
Mountain bongos are shy and skittish. They are found in thick forests, thus difficult to be easily sighted and counted.
Most of the sightings are opportunistic and use indirect methods, such as dung.
Camera trap images for individual ID are used to estimate the wild populations in Masai Mau, South West Mau, Eburru, Aberdare NP and Ragati in Mount Kenya NP.
For the captive population in Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy (MKWC), physical sighting and individual ID is used.
In Kenya, bongos are accorded full protection under the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, 2013.
This subspecies once roamed in large numbers but has suffered unprecedented population decline since the 1950s due to poaching, live trade, predation and disease, particularly the rinderpest outbreak in the 1980s.
However, it has not yet received the same level of international attention as the 'Big 5' safari animals, which in part contributed to the recovery of their numbers.
The Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy is a non-profit trust dedicated to preserving the environment and the wildlife within. It is home to 28 different animal species, a population of roughly 1,200 animals.
The conservancy's three main programmes include a rehabilitation project for the mountain bongo antelope, an animal orphanage and a conservation education programme.
The conservancy took on the daunting challenge of reversing this inevitable extinction of the mountain bongo in 2004 and started the breeding and rewilding programme of the antelope in Kenya.
Every subsequent year, an additional 10 mountain bongos will be translocated into the sanctuary in groups of five every six months.
Individual mountain bongos to join the sanctuary will be selected from the breeding herds and allowed to roam and mate randomly in the sanctuary.
BRIGHT FUTURE
It is estimated that by 2025, the sanctuary will have 50-70 fully rewilded mountain bongos.
Aruho oversaw the process alongside Isaac Lekolool, senior veterinary officer, Kenya Wildlife Service.
Aruho says the five mountain bongos (three male, two female) were carefully chosen for release into the wild.
“They (bongos) should be capable of browsing for food without the need for humans or other bongos in a herd,” Aruho says.
He says the bongo must be healthy and robust, genetically diverse, not too old nor too young, and socially compatible.
Aruho, who has been with the bongos for a long time, led the team in moving Danni, a mating female that is elusive and shy, to the wild.
Kavu, a striking female renowned for her horns and beautiful stripes, and also an effective browser, was also moved to the wild.
Karama, an alpha male without being overly dominant and an eligible bachelor ready to sire, was also moved into the wild.
A sub-adult male called Harare, who holds a close bond with the two other male bongos critical for all the males’ survival, was also moved to the wild. Likewise, another bongo called Owingu was also moved into the wild.
Aruho says capturing animals and raising them in captivity will help save the antelope species from the edge.
He says the safety of the animals and the people involved in the exercise are of paramount importance.
Before they were moved, the five had to be tranquillised in order to immobilise them.
Moving bongos is a delicate process and how to safely catch and handle them is important.
The five bongos were then loaded into pickups with turquoise in their faces. Vets accompanied them.
Upon arrival at the Mountain Bongo Sanctuary, they were given another jab that awakens them.
All this other time, Danni was trembling, just like her other candidates.
Some minutes after another injection was given, Danni was helped to stand.
She looked around before dashing into the bush, her legs wobbling.
IMPORTANCE OF REWILDING
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says rewilding aims to restore healthy ecosystems by creating wild, biodiverse spaces.
It rebuilds ecosystems that have previously been modified by human disturbance, using the plant and animal life that would have been present had the disturbance never occurred.
Rewilding restores the natural processes that provide humanity with clean air, water, food, shelter and medicine.
This idea of reversing biodiversity loss and creating wild landscapes by allowing nature to reclaim areas no longer under human management has gained much attention as an optimistic approach to conservation.
Aruho says it is challenging to increase declining populations quickly as reversing extinction is hard, and costly, especially when a species is only available from zoos.
"We look forward to continuing our partnership with the government of Kenya, KWS and KFS. Our shared commitment means that for the mountain bongo, a bright future awaits,” he said.
In the 1950s, the population of the mountain bongo in Kenya began to decline primarily due to unrestricted hunting, poaching and predation.
Between 1966 and 1975, 36 wild mountain bongos were captured from Aberdares, Kenya, and exported to US zoological institutions, becoming the founding animals for the North American captive bongo population.
The move left a small number of bongos remaining at Mount Kenya Game Ranch under human care.
By December 2001, the population in North American zoos totalled 323 individuals, comprising 130 males, 190 females and three unknowns at 66 institutions.
The population represented the most robust captive group anywhere.
BREEDING PROGRAMME
In 2004, 18 bongos were repatriated to join the existing captive herd of about 18 bongos that were at the Mount Kenya Game Ranch, offspring of the cohort that was shipped to the US.
These bongos were fully habituated, 100 per cent dependent on humans for food.
The bongos were repatriated and allowed to acclimatise in small non-forested paddocks for ease of monitoring at Mount Kenya Game Ranch.
Tick-borne diseases, however, led to the mortality of some of the imported animals within three weeks following importation.
The remaining animals acclimatised and adapted to the local environment and have been gradually developing resistance to tick-borne diseases and intestinal parasites.
With improvement in husbandry and veterinary care, the mountain bongo population rebounded to 64 individuals as of February 28, 2022.
Mount Kenya Game Ranch will retain the breeding herds for the purposes of getting more individual mountain bongos that will be recruited into the rewilding programme.
In May 2020, the herds were gradually moved into virgin forest paddocks to begin the rewilding process to prime them to survive in the wild.
To date, six herds exist, of which four are breeding herds composed of females, one breeding bull and young bongos born in that particular herd.
There are two bachelor herds composed of males of various ages.
Tourism CS Najib Balala says the mountain bongo is one of Kenya’s most important iconic animals.
“It is a critically endangered subspecies and can only be found here in Kenya,” Balala says.
“That is why in July 2019, we launched the National Mountain Bongo Recovery and Action Plan 2019-2023, in partnership with the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya Wildlife Service and Kenya Forest Service.”
The CS says the opening of the Mawingu Sanctuary is another critical step forward to achieving these aims.
With the sanctuary now operational, MKWC, KWS and KFS will have facilities to complete mountain bongo reintroduction end-to-end.
Under the project, three paddocks are going to be opened gradually until there is full rewilding of the animal.
Those being released to 100 acres of land are monitored and given supplements until they get used to the environment and they are going to be opened to another 400 acres and eventually the entire 776 acres.
The long-term vision of the action plan is to achieve a population of 750 individuals in Kenya by 2050.
The opening of the sanctuary represents a significant step towards achieving this aim.
BREAKING HUMAN DEPENDENCE
The aim of the mountain bongo breeding and rewilding programme is to have individuals that are fully rewilded and therefore competent to survive in the sanctuary and eventually the wild.
Total weaning from human dependence is a gradual process requiring technical skill, patience and commitment to allow the animals to adapt independently.
This requires spaces with every vital component for their survival: an appropriate habitat, foliage and enough space to exhibit normal behaviour and fully accommodate natural selection.
The long-term success of today's release and eventual survival in the wild depends on the communities' support in surrounding areas.
Most of the threats that caused the mountain bongo population decline were primarily human-driven.
The MKWC has set up community conservation, education and empowerment programmes to create awareness to address these threats.
Annually, MKWC hosts more than 20,000 students on school trips and supports more than 30 students on six-month internships.
Local communities are also provided with the opportunity for hands-on training on ecosystem restoration.
The conservancy works with the communities to restore degraded areas within Mount Kenya forest through its forest restoration and reforestation programme.
Under this partnership, MKWC has involved 3,000 community members in planting more than 35,000 indigenous tree species in Mount Kenya Forest.
In 2022, MKWC is planning to plant another 5,000 trees with the support of the communities.
KFS Chief Conservator Julius Kamau says collaboration is important for the successful protection of any endangered species.
“And without working closely with the KWS, the Ministry for Tourism and Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, we could not have arrived at this important moment in time to save the mountain bongo,” he says.
Kamau says KFS stands ready and willing to nurture these vital partnerships to achieve their shared goal of rewilding the mountain bongo, an animal that holds great national significance in Kenya.
Humphrey Kariuki, the patron of Janus Continental Group, says the release is a milestone moment and a great step towards saving this critically endangered species.
Some Sh110 million has been put into the project and each year it has a recurrent expenditure of Sh62 million.
