We’ve come across bongos before through our work in Dzanga Sangha, Central African Republic, but we hadn’t realised a distinct critically endangered subspecies still clings on in East Africa.
So we were fascinated to learn that our long-standing conservation partner, Mara Elephant Project (MEP), has just expanded their remit to include this very species, taking the Bongo Surveillance Project (BSP) under their wing.
Founded in 2003 by conservationist Mike Prettejohn, BSP is the only organisation in the world dedicated to protecting the last wild mountain bongos. Once widespread in Kenya’s highland forests, the species has been driven to the brink by poaching and habitat loss. Today, just a handful remain in fragmented forest strongholds like the Mau Forest Complex and Aberdare National Park.
BSP rangers—just eight in total—work alongside the Kenya Wildlife Service and other agencies to patrol these vital habitats. Their work includes de-snaring, habitat monitoring, and deploying camera traps and DNA analysis from dung samples to keep tabs on the population. The results are cautiously hopeful: there’s evidence of breeding, but the species’ future remains far from secure.
Beyond the forest, BSP also runs community education programmes, reaching tens of thousands of people, including schoolchildren living near bongo habitats. Their message is clear: the fate of this striking antelope is deeply connected to the health of Kenya’s forests—and to the people who live alongside them.
This is a deeply personal project for MEP CEO Marc Goss, who spent his gap year tracking bongos in the Aberdares. That experience sparked his career in conservation, and now, years later, MEP is supporting BSP through a time of growth and transformation. That support includes training, equipment, and technology—including integrating BSP into MEP’s EarthRanger system for real-time tracking.
We’ll be following their progress – conservation isn’t just about saving the species we all know, it’s about shining a light on the ones we’ve almost forgotten too.
Images: MEP
