[Source: The Standard, by Jacinta Mutura]
The Kenya Forest Service has allocated 776 acres within the Mt. Kenya Forest ecosystem for Mountain Bongo conservation.
The land will be used for expansion of the current Bongo sanctuary and also will be fenced and paddocked to allow for breeding.
The announcement was made by the Chief Conservator of Forests Julius Kamau, who spoke during the launch of the National Recovery and Action Plan for the Mountain Bongo 2019-2023 in Mt Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, Nanyuki.
Mr Kamau emphasised the importance of collaboration between Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), which is critical and essential in the protection of endangered species and directed all KFS field staff to work closely with their KWS counterparts.
Mountain Bongo is considered endangered as the numbers are in dangerous decline due to human activities including poaching, logging, diseases and loss of habitat.
Kenya hosts 77 of the total 96 population in the world under the custody of Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy in Laikipia County.
The protected forest area set aside by the KFS is intended to create specific space for transition of the species into the wild and to enable them develop instincts to thrive in the environment as they have not been familiarised with the wild environment after a breeding program conducted in the USA and UK.
[Full article: The Standard, by Jacinta Mutura]
