{"id":460091,"date":"2026-04-29T18:40:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T18:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/460091\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T18:40:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T18:40:15","slug":"homecoming-critically-endangered-antelopes-returned-to-kenyan-forests-from-czech-zoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/460091\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Homecoming’: Critically endangered antelopes returned to Kenyan forests from Czech zoo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four critically endangered mountain bongos arrived in Kenya<\/a> on their way to their native forests<\/a> after years in the care of a zoo in the Czech Republic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bongos, rare antelopes known for their striking stripes, have been declared critically endangered due to poaching and diseases. There are less than 100 mountain bongos left in the wild, according to the Kenyan government. Many were sent to Europe in the 1980s after a major rinderpest disease outbreak killed thousands.<\/p>\n

The four returnees arrived from Dvur Kralove Zoo packed in wooden crates at Kenya\u2019s main airport aboard a KLM cargo flight and were received by the country\u2019s Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Tourism Minister Rebecca Miano, who hailed it as a \u201chomecoming of the majestic bongos\u201d.<\/p>\n

It’s the third such return in recent years, last one being in February 2025. After a period of quarantine and acclimatization, the bongos will be sent to the Mount Kenya Wildlife<\/a> Conservancy, which houses 102 bongos, for a stay before being released into the wild.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A herd of antelopes looks around in the savannah of the Maasai Mara in Narok on April 5, 2026. \u00a9 Brian Inganga, AP <\/p>\n

The conservancy runs a National Recovery and Action Plan for the Mountain Bongo in collaboration with the government and plans to use the four new bongos to interbreed and strengthen the gene pool.<\/p>\n

Kenyan-raised nature<\/a> explorers and filmmakers Jahawi and Elke Bertolli told The Associated Press that the new bongos will bring genetic variation that is critical for their conservation, adding that the species plays a key role in protecting the forests<\/a> that are vital to Kenya\u2019s water supply.<\/p>\n

Read moreKazakhstan to allow hunting once endangered antelopes<\/a><\/p>\n

Czech Republic Ambassador Nicol Adamcova said the relocation reflects a long-standing partnership between the Czech Republic and Kenya in conservation and a shared commitment to protecting endangered species.<\/p>\n

Mudavadi said such milestones show what can be achieved when policy, science, and collaboration come together in pursuit of a shared conservation goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI commend all stakeholders involved and assure you of Government\u2019s unwavering support in strengthening conservation frameworks and ensuring that Kenya\u2019s biodiversity continues to thrive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Miano said that bringing in genetically diverse bongos is a critical step to strengthen the species’ breeding resilience.<\/p>\n

(FRANCE 24 with AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four critically endangered mountain bongos arrived in Kenya on their way to their native forests after years in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[269],"tags":[4204,100,11022,18,440,19,17,2861,3618,133,167978,461],"class_list":["post-460091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-africa","tag-animals","tag-czech-republic","tag-eire","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kenya","tag-nature","tag-science","tag-the-bright-side","tag-wildlife"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116489461805464279","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}