Bongo Surveillance

The Bongo Surveillance Project was founded in 2004 in the Aberdare forests of central Kenya, one of the last places the critically endangered eastern bongos are known to survive in the wild. Led by founder Mike Prettejohn, a team of experienced trackers gather scientific data on the presence and distribution of the remaining mountain bongo as well as data on human activity within the indigenous forests where these animals are found. Our mission is clear:

"The objective of the Bongo Surveillance Project is to protect and conserve the critically endangered eastern or mountain bongo and its habitat, by working with local communities and stakeholders worldwide."

Our work involves:

a. Monitoring herds & individual bongo movements and distribution using visual signs (spoor etc), camera traps & GPS equipment. Gathering photographic evidence of bongos will allow us to prioritise areas for protection and pass this information on to government authorities and other conservation organisations. GPS and satellite imagery also allows us to pinpoint new areas of potential bongo habitat to search for new individuals or populations. We remove traps and snares and document poaching, charcoal production, illegal logging and work to aid the apprehension of poachers.

b. Collecting plant matter and dung for analysis, to increase our understanding of eastern bongo biology and ecology. Dung is an excellent non-invasive source of genetic material and we are working to sample dung to gather this information on the remaining wild bongos to help formulate a global metapopulation analysis and action plan to maximise genetic diversity.

c. Working with scientists around the world to understand bongo habitat selection, improve the genetic stability of the subspecies and identify necessary conservation measures to ensure their long term survival.

d. Working in partnership with the local community and schools setting up Wildlife Clubs, to create awareness of the critically endangered mountain bongo and the need to work together to protect the surrounding forests. Our tracking teams also give presentations to schools and communities to engage the new generation in conservation biology.

e. Working with the community to protect the forest to the benefit of both the eastern bongo and local people through projects including tree planting, water catchment solutions, agricultural and fishery initiatives and new solar cooking/lighting technologies. These are vital in reducing logging, charcoal production, "bush meat" hunting and other degradation of the remaining forests and have been very successful.

f. Membership of the National Bongo Conservation Task Force, constituted by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), which advises on matters related to bongo conservation in Kenya as well as steering the formulation of a national bongo conservation strategy to guide efforts to conserve this endangered antelope. The membership of the task force comprises KWS, Kenya Forest Service, Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, Rhino Ark Charitable Trust, the Bongo Surveillance Project and other interest groups.

Since its inception, the Bongo Surveillance Project has grown from strength to strength and is now involved in actively conserving bongo and the rare Afromontane forests (mountain rainforests) in the last four locations where wild mountain bongos are still known to occur;

1. Aberdare National Park
2. Mount Kenya National Park
3. Mau Forest Region
4. Eburu Forest Region

The immediate and continuing action of the Bongo Surveillance Project and all of the organizations we work with are therefore vital to ensuring this subspecies remains part of Kenya's natural heritage and an important part of Africa's unique mountain rainforest ecosystems.