Bongo

You may get arrested if you hit these bongos.

  • Bongos are an antelope native to the forest habitats of tropical areas in Central and West Africa, and they have an average lifespan of 10 to 19 years.
  • The scientific name of a bongo is Tragelaphus eurycerus, and it is from the family Bovidae, the family of bovids, or ruminant mammals with cloven hooves.
  • As the largest forest antelope, the height of a bongo can reach 1.1 to 1.3 metres (3.6 to 4.3 feet) excluding the head, and it can weigh between 150 to 405 kilograms (331 to 893 pounds).
  • The fur of a bongo is mostly coloured a chestnut or red/orange brown colour, with black on its tail, legs and face, and it is patterned with approximately a dozen white or cream coloured stripes across its back.
  • Bongos have horns that have a curved, twisted shape that range from 75 to 100 centimetres (30 to 39 inches) in length, and they are found on both genders.
Bongo Antelope, Animal, Mammal, Africa, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Flickr, Zoo, Grazing
A Bongo
Image courtesy of William Andrus/Flickr
  • The diet of bongos consists primarily of leaves and other vegetation including bark; fruit; and grass, and they also need to consume salt.
  • Poachers kill bongos for meat, horns and skin, which has led to a decrease in the animal’s population, and habitat loss has also contributed to the decline, and as such they are listed as near threatened.
  • Female bongos generally live in herds, while the males typically live alone, and the females usually produce a single calf per litter, which is born hidden in undergrowth, where it is kept protectively for a week or so, after which they join the herd.
  • Some native African communities fear touching bongos, let alone eating them, thinking contact would cause health problems, such as spasms, in humans.
  • Bongos are mostly nocturnal, and they shine their horns by cooling themselves down in mud and then scraping away the mud by rubbing their horns against trees.
Bibliography:
Bongo, 2015, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/bongo/
Bongo, n.d, African Wildlife Foundation, https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/bongo
Bongo (antelope), 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bongo_(antelope)

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