Mountain Bongo Surveillance Project
Background
The Mountain Bongo Surveillance Project aims to conserve the highly endangered mountain bongo antelope through protection of their habitat, the Aberdare Mountains, and by encouraging local communities to get involved in the conservation of this beautiful and rare species.
Mountain Bongo
There are approximately 150 mountain bongo surviving today in the wild, living in isolated pockets of Kenya’s Highland forests; in 1975 there were 500. Found only in Kenya, the Mountain Bongo is critically endangered and is one of only two recognized subspecies of the bongo antelope. Exceedingly shy animals, bongo are forest browsers exclusively, being restricted to densely forested areas with an abundant year-round growth of accessible leaves and shoots. A combination of factors have lead to the demise of the bongo; an epidemic of rinderpest in the late 1990s raised concern that the Mountain Bongo might have been wiped out altogether; loss of habitat due to human encroachment into its habitat and snaring for bushmeat are all contributory factors.
Tusk Trust Support
The Bongo Surveillance Project has not only highlighted the plight of the critically endangered Bongo, but also the serious destruction of the forest and the potential economic implications to the local community. A grant of £2,000 to the Bongo Surveillance Project covered the projects annual cost of promoting awareness and undertaking Bongo surveillance with community wildlife clubs surrounding the forest. Each wildlife club consists of 40 pupils (aged 10 -12 years) from four schools bordering the Aberdares, two in the Mount Kenya region, three in Emburu, and four in the Mau area. Each school has been specifically selected due to its close proximity to identified Bongo locations; giving an outreach to a possible 1000 people in the local community.
The Wildlife Clubs are a vital part of the Bongo Surveillance initiative and conservation programme. With the support of the teachers and the community they raise awareness about the vital resources of the Aberdare forests, rivers and unique wildlife, highlighting the importance of these resources to the livelihoods of children and their families.
By engaging the support of the community through the local schools, there is an opportunity to make a lasting contribution to conservation and protect the Bongo and its natural habitat.
Comments from the field
““Since the introduction of the BSP wildlife clubs in my school, I have witnessed a change. The community have come to know about the Bongo, and they now appreciate its presence and are ready to conserve its habitat. There is mutual team work between schools, the Bongo representative in the field (Julius), forest officers, and with the community in general. Pupils have improved their social studies, through the lesson/topics offered by the Bongo Wildlife Coordinator and through educational field trips. Bongo has brought new life to this young generation. Myself I have benefitted from this project in that I have now a wider understanding of conservation and wildlife. I have knowledge of income generation aspects like fish ponds, and many more. With this knowledge I am working confidently with the local community to build a more sustainable future”. ”
Harry Thuku, Mt. Kenya Schools Patron
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