The Bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus) is a large African ungulate featured in the Standard Edition of Planet Zoo.
Zoopedia Description[]
General[]
Population in the Wild: 15,000-25,000
The bongo (or Tragelaphus eurycerus) is a secretive, forest-dwelling antelope that lives in the woodlands of Central Africa. They have a tan-to-red colored coat, white vertical stripes on their torso and pale innder legs. Their main distinguishing features are their large, spiralling, vertical horns. While males and females are a similar size - between 3.6 ft and 4.3ft tall at the shoulder, and 7ft and 10.4ft long - the males are much heavier, averaging 682lb compared to a female's 418lb.
The species is near threatened, endangered by habitat loss due to deforestation and land use change for agriculture, but also often hunted as a trophy animal due to their large ornamental horns. 60% of the bongo population falls within nature reserves and thus are protected from hunting, but illegal poaching does still occur. Nature reserves also protect the bongo's environment from destruction.
Social[]
Bongo females live in small groups with their offspring and forage through the rainforest together. Males are solitary, living alone except for during the mating season when they temporarily join a female herd.
Reproduction[]
During the mating season, a male will join a female herd and wiill court females by gently nudging and nuzzling them, then mating with them if they are receptive. After a pregnancy of 9.5 months, the female will give birth to a single calf, which remains close to their mother until they are around 2 years old. At this point, males will leave and become solitary, while females remain with their mother's herd.
Animal Care[]
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PREFERRED OBJECTS | |
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Hay · Herbivore Pellets · Fruit and Salt Licks | |
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FEEDING STATIONS | |
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FOOD ENRICHMENT |
HABITAT ENRICHMENT |
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COMPATIBLE ANIMALS |
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Trivia[]
Zoopedia Fun Facts[]
- Although the bongo's horns are used for fighting (especially by males), they are more often used for clearing branches and scrub out of the way while they are foraging in dense woodland.
- Bongos are 'crepuscular' animals; they are most active at dusk and dawn.
- For the first week of a newborn bongo calf's life, it remained hidden silently in the undergrowth, and its mother will return to it often to feed it.
- There is a small group of Bongos that live in the mountains of Kenya. These are a subspecies of bongo called the 'mountain bongo' and have long been isolated from the forest population.
- Bongos are known to eat charcoal from burned trees after lightning strikes and forest fires. It is believed they use this as a source of salt and minerals.
Gallery[]
