By Emmanuel Onyango
A rare Kenyan antelope species kept in American zoos for decades is being returned to its homeland, where their numbers in the wild is believed to be less than 100.
The mountain bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci) is a critically endangered subspecies of antelopes that was initially found only in central Kenya.
They are world's third largest antelopes and are distinguishable by their reddish-brown coat and white vertical stripes.
Most of their numbers were transferred from Kenya to the United States in the 1960s under an initiative by the British colonial government.
Some of the antelopes were also transferred to Europe, as the colonialists plundered African treasures.
The animals being taken to Kenya are the offsprings of those shipped by the colonial powers. However, conservationists say the latest move will go a long way in preserving the species.
“That action actually saved us because we don’t have any (left) in their original home. We are (now) able to ask that they give us what they have there,” Kenya Wildlife Services spokesperson Paul Udoto tells TRT Afrika.
“Our partners in the US have chosen to facilitate their return.”
The latest batch of 17 mountain bongos (12 females and 5 males) repatriated to Kenya arrived on Sunday from the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation (RSCF).
It’s part of the East African country’s ongoing efforts to grow the specie’s population locally. They will form a founder population at the Marania and Mucheene sanctuary in Meru County.
The aim is to increase the species' population to 750 animals over the next 50 years, Kenya Wild Service Director General Erustus Kanga told journalists as giant wooden cages carrying the animals were being offloaded from a cargo plane at the country’s main airport in the capital, Nairobi.
“In the next three months we should be getting five individuals from some zoos in Europe to come and bring some genetic diversity so that we can grow the population here,” he said.
“All the mountain bongos that are out there, given the opportunity and support, we are going to bring them back," he added.
The animals will be placed in an isolation facility for at least three months for close monitoring and acclimatisation to their new environment before being released in the wild, officials said.
Breeding and rewilding of the species has been ongoing in its natural habitat on the foot of Mount Kenya, Kenya's tallest mountain.
Kenya’s Tourism Minister Rebecca Miano said the mountain bongos have “suffered untold grief over the decades”.
“From habitat loss to poaching and disease, mountain bongo numbers have dwindled to alarming proportions. Yet, even in the face of these travails, we have resisted bowing to pressure to let go of this iconic species,” she said.
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