The bongo Taurotragus eurycerus
Bongo видео
The bongo is a large African antelope, which may weigh as much as 200 kilograms. Bongos have extremely beautiful coloration; bright orange or chestnut background with vertical white stripes on the sides, white markings on the cheeks and legs, and crescent-like spot on the chest. Both sexes carry lyre-shaped dark brown spiralled horns that usually have either one or one-and-half twists and reach the length of 90-100 cm. The Bongo is natively found in Central Africa, from Sierra Leone to Kenya and Uganda. This antelope inhabits forests with dense undergrowth and in dry seasons can be seen at altitudes of 3,000 meters above sea level; in rain seasons bongos come down to river valleys. Females with young of different ages form small groups averaging 15 animals, while adult males are solitary, joining family groups from time to time. Females give birth to a single calf. Bongos are very shy and elusive; hunters say that they disappear almost immediately when they feel threatened. They noiselessly run through the dense net of lianas with their horns laid back against their body so that older animals get their fur behind the shoulders rubbed off. Bongos are usually active in early morning and late afternoon. They feed on leaves, sprouts and fruits, and sometimes dig soil with their horns in search of various roots. In the hot days, Bongos come into water or wallow in mud. The bongo faces an ongoing population decline as habitat destruction and hunting for meat increase. Unfortunately, in some African countries it is still possible to buy a hunting license to shoot a bongo.
Extreme elusiveness of bongos made local people believe that these animals have funny abilities. The Pygmies of the Congo region believe that bongo is able to hang from branches by its horns and drop on unsuspecting hunters in the forest, and that it eats poisonous plants so its meat would not be edible to humans. Other myths tell that when pursued, the bongo dives underwater and stays there until the following dry season, losing its coat and feeding on fish.
