The mountain bongo, a rare antelope with brown fur and white stripes, is nicknamed the “ghost of the forest” for how well it hides in dense shrubs. A critically endangered species with fewer than 100 individuals left in the wild, the mountain bongo is indigenous to Kenya's forests and is being slowly reintroduced by conservationists, targeting 750 wild bongos by 2050.

Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy on the slopes of Mount Kenya is retraining zoo-bred bongos to survive independently by finding food, avoiding predators, and building disease immunity in the wild. As part of these efforts, the center received four male bongos in early May 2026 from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria via the Czech Republic to breed with descendants of 18 bongos imported from the United States in 2004, boosting genetic diversity. The head of the conservancy Dr. Robert Aruho says they avoid inbreeding and aim for bongos that are strong in body and in the genes they pass to future generations.

Caroline Makena, 33, grew up in the Mount Kenya region and remembers hearing stories about bongos from her grandmother, who said they were her community’s favorite bush meat. However, Makena never got to see one until she came to work as a gardener at the conservancy. “I never knew the bongos were this beautiful, and I think my community loved them not just for the meat but because of their beauty,” she said.