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The Eastern or Mountain Bongo Found only in Kenya, the Eastern or mountain bongo is critically endangered. The mountain bongo is the largest and heaviest of all forest antelopes. There are around 500 mountain bongo in zoos or parks around the world but in the wild there are only about 150 remaining. Along with other wild animals, many bongo were killed for consumption as bush meat. Habitat loss has also contributed to the decline in numbers of the mountain bongo.

The Eastern or Mountain Bongo DNA Monitoring and analysis The few remaining mountain bongo in the wild must be watched carefully. Scientists also need to analyse the bongo DNA.  DNA sampling is very expensive but it allows us to work out the sex, age, and relationship of one animal to another. Work is underway to test the DNA of the remaining bongo populations and work so far suggests that inbreeding is a problem with these populations.  .

The Eastern or Mountain Bongo Animal conservation must consider the genetic diversity of the bongo. Animal populations with low genetic diversity are less able to adapt to changes in their environment. The isolation of the remaining bongo population means that genetic material is lost each generation. The remaining wild bongo populations are losing 8% of their total genetic diversity every 10 years. Zoo breeding programmes can reduce this loss by around 2%.