One of the most eye-catching animals in the African forests. It has a rich chestnut brown coat marked with striking white stripes that run vertically down its body. These stripes help it blend into the thick vegetation of its forest home. Bongos are large, making them one of the heaviest forest-dwelling antelope species. Both males and females have long, spiraled horns that slant backward. They also have large ears, giving them excellent hearing, which is helpful in the quiet forest where they live. Their legs are strong and built for quick movement through tight spaces, and their eyes are well-suited for low-light environments since they are mainly active during the night or at dawn and dusk.

Unlike many antelope species living in open savannas, bongos prefer thick forests and rarely come out. They are shy and secretive animals, which makes spotting them in the wild a rare experience. One key difference from many other antelope is that both male and female bongos have horns, while in many antelope species, only the males do. Another unique trait is their behavior—bongos will often run with their heads low and horns tucked back so they don’t get tangled in the trees. This behavior is not common in other horned animals. Bongos also have a special habit of repeatedly using the same paths through the forest, creating narrow trails through the thick greenery. They are usually solitary or live in small groups, which is quite different from other antelope species that often live in large herds.

There are two types of bongos: the lowland or western bongo, and the mountain bongo, which lives at higher elevations in Kenya. The mountain bongo is extremely rare and is considered critically endangered. Fewer than 100 of them remain in the wild, mostly found in protected mountain forests.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Benin

2016

Cameroon

2016

Central Af. Rep.

2016

Congo-Brazzaville

2016

Côte D’ivoire

2016

DR Congo (Kinshasa)

2016

Gabon

2016

Ghana

2016

Guinea

2016

Kenya

2016

Liberia

2016

Niger

2016

Sierra Leone

2016

South Sudan

2016

Togo

2016

Uganda

Official estimate

EX

Extinct locally