NANYUKI, KENYA — The Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy last week imported four male mountain bongos from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria through the Czech Republic to broaden the genetic pool of its breeding program. The animals are being held in quarantine under constant observation before joining a herd intended for reintroduction into the wild.

The four males will interbreed with descendants of 18 bongos that arrived at the 1,250-acre conservancy in 2004 from the United States. That population has since grown to 102 animals at the facility, located on the slopes of Mount Kenya near Nanyuki.

The mountain bongo, a critically endangered antelope known for its brown coat and distinct white stripes, numbers fewer than 100 in the wild. The conservancy is breeding the animals with a target of 750 wild bongos by 2050.

"We want bongos that are not only strong in body, but strong in the genes they pass to the next generation," said Dr. Robert Aruho, head of the conservancy.

The species is native to Kenya's Mount Kenya, Aberdare, Eburu and Mau forests. Thousands of mountain bongos died in disease outbreaks in the 1960s. In the 1980s, conservationist Don Hunt exported 36 bongos to the United States to be bred in captivity with a plan to return them to the wild when conditions improved. The conservancy, which opened in 2004, imported 18 descendants of those animals.

The last wild bongo was spotted in the Mount Kenya forest in 1994, before the conservancy returned the first 10 animals to the wild in 2022. Reintroduced bongos now roam among orange climber vines and shrubs that form part of their diet, supplemented by nutritious pellets. The species has a nine-month gestation period and reacts to certain plants and weather conditions, factors that have slowed population growth.

The conservancy has worked to restore the survival instincts of zoo-bred bongos, including feeding without human assistance, escaping predators and building immunity to disease. Andrew Mulani, the bongo program assistant, said animals are monitored for months before release so that the shyest individuals can be selected, because docile animals would fall easily to predators. He said his most fulfilling moment came when the fourth calf was born in the wild last year, an indication that the bongos are thriving in their native habitat and that their population will increase.

Thousands of tourists visit the conservancy annually to view the bongos' spiraled horns. Caroline Makena, 33, who grew up in the Mount Kenya region and works as a gardener at the facility, said: "I never knew the bongos were this beautiful, and I think my community loved them not just for the meat but because of their beauty."