NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 16 – The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has signed a 15-year Special Use License with the Ragati Chehe Mountain Bongo Conservation Trust to establish a dedicated refuge and reintroduction site for the critically endangered Mountain Bongo in Nyeri County.
The agreement, signed on March 11 at KFS headquarters in Karura Forest, Nairobi, allows the trust to manage 63 acres of the Ragati-Chehe forest to develop conservation facilities.
The planned centre will include wildlife enclosures for mountain bongos, a research house, ranger accommodation and a viewing platform. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) will also support the project through a veterinary monitoring unit.
The trust brings together several conservation organisations including the Rhino Ark Kenya Charitable Trust, Mount Kenya Trust, Mara Elephant Project and the Wilder Institute Calgary Zoo.
“This agreement represents an important step forward in restoring the mountain bongo to its rightful place in Kenya’s forests,” said Susie Weeks, Chairperson of the Ragati Chehe Mountain Bongo Conservation Trust.
“The Ragati-Chehe refuge and Mountain Bongo Reintroduction Site will provide a secure, well-managed environment where conservation science and wildlife protection can thrive,” she added.
The mountain bongo, characterised by a chestnut coat with white stripes and long spiralled horns, is one of Africa’s rarest forest antelopes. Fewer than 80 individuals are believed to remain in the wild, mostly in Central Kenya.
Historically, the species ranged across forests including the Aberdare Range, Mount Kenya, South West Mau Forest, Maasai Mau Forest, Mau Eburu Forest and the Cherangani Hills, though the Aberdare ecosystem remains its main stronghold today
Conservationists say habitat loss, poaching, disease and forest fragmentation have contributed to the sharp decline of the species.
According to a fact sheet by Rhino Ark Kenya Charitable Trust, more than 400 mountain bongos are currently found in accredited zoos worldwide, while the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy hosts between 40 and 60 individuals in its breeding programme in Kenya.
