In Danger: East African Bongo

East African Bongo (Boocercus euryceros isaaci)

The bongo, Africa`s largest forest antelope, is on the brink of extinction. This striking animal with dramatic spiraling horns and trademark vertical stripes is rarely seen in the wild due to its shy nature and declining numbers. Perhaps only 100 survive among isolated populations in Kenya`s montane forests.

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists the bongo as endangered, and several on-site breeding programs are underway to bring these magnificent creatures back. Although bushmeat hunters and lions have wiped out large numbers, the greatest danger to the bongo`s survival is the loss of forest habitat.

Habitat loss will escalate if the Kenyan government`s recent forest excision proposal is adopted. The Government intends to remove from protected status more than 150,000 acres of pristine montane forests. These lands will be opened to logging in order to establish human settlements. The forests slated for destruction include the Western Mau and Trans-Mara forests — part of a critical ecosystem that is home to some of Kenya`s most extraordinary wildlife. Not only will forest habitats be devastated; the clearcuts will also impair two of Kenya`s largest watersheds, contaminating wildlife breeding and feeding sites as far south as the Serengeti and Lake Natron in Tanzania.

E-LAW partners in Tanzania and around the world are helping lawyers in Kenya oppose the new logging plan. Sri Lankan lawyers recently provided information about a case in their country broadening the government`s obligation to protect natural resources for the benefit of the public. Forest cover in Kenya has already fallen to less than two percent of the country`s total land area. The government`s recent plan would reduce remaining forests by an additional 10 percent.