Bongo

Question 1

Is the bongo nocturnal or diurnal?

Answer 1

Nocturnal.

Question 2

Do both male and female bongos have horns?

Answer 2

Yes.

Question 3

How many subspecies of bongo are there?

Answer 3

Two. (Lowland bongo and mountain bongo.)

Question 4

What is the conservation status of the lowland bongo?

Answer 4

Near threatened.

Question 5

What is the conservation status of the mountain bongo?

Answer 5

Critically endangered.

Question 6

What are some threats to the bongo?

Answer 6

Poaching, agriculture development, and logging.

Question 7

How many mountain bongos are left in the wild?

Answer 7

Less than 100.

Question 8

What are the closest cousins of the bongo?

Answer 8

Bushbucks and kudus.

Question 9

True or false, there are two other subspecies of bongo that are pending classification.

Answer 9

True.

Question 10

Is the mountain or lowland bongo larger?

Answer 10

Mountain bongo.

Question 11

How long can bongos live?

Answer 11

Up to 20 years.

Question 12

What does the scientific name of the bongo mean?

Answer 12

Broad horned-antelope

Question 13

What is the range and habitat of the bongo?

Answer 13

Western and central Africa in tropical forest.

Question 14

What do the white stripes on the bongo help with?

Answer 14

Camouflage.

Question 15

How heavy are male and female bongos?

Answer 15

Female: 500 pounds
Male: 900 pounds

Question 16

How tall is a bongo?

Answer 16

4 feet

Question 17

How long is a bongo?

Answer 17

9 feet

Question 18

Where do all captive bongos come from?

Answer 18

Central Kenya

Question 19

Why do bongos sometimes look like they bleed in the rain?

Answer 19

The red pigment in their fur comes off extremely easily.

Question 20

What is the difference between the male and female bongo?

Answer 20

Males are larger, have larger horns, and have darker coats.

Question 21

True or false? Each side of a bongo has an identical amount of stripes.

Answer 21

False.

Question 22

Why do bongos have such large ears?

Answer 22

They rely on hearing to detect any approaching predators.

Question 23

True or false? Bongos rely heavily on smell to identify each other.

Answer 23

False. They rely more on sight.

Question 24

What is the difference between horns and antlers?

Answer 24

Antlers are shed every year and are pure bone extending from the animal’s skull. Horns are also an extension of the skull, but can also be hollow. Horns are always covered in keratin. Horns are never completely shed. Only the male pronghorn shed the sheath of its horns.

Question 25

How does a bongo keep its horns from being tangled in the brush of the forest?

Answer 25

The horns are naturally swept back and the bongo holds them even further back when running.

Question 26

Are bongos generally solitary animals?

Answer 26

Yes. Although females will sometimes gather in small groups.

Question 27

How long is the gestation period of the bongo?

Answer 27

9 months.

Question 28

How many calves does the bongo have?

Answer 28

One.

Question 29

how old are bongos when they are mature?

Answer 29

Two.

Question 30

In what decade was the bongo first observed to the western world?

Answer 30

1960s

Question 31

True or false? Male bongos engage in unusually brutal horn locks.

Answer 31

False. Bongos usually only lock horns for sparring and play.

Question 32

How do male bongos discourage other males from entering their territory?

Answer 32

They bulge their necks, roll their eyes, and pace in front of the other male.

Question 33

Are bongos easily frightened?

Answer 33

Yes.

Question 34

Why do bongos turn their rear toward whatever is disturbing them rather than their side?

Answer 34

Their rear is less conspicuous.

Question 35

How does the bongo communicate vocally?

Answer 35

It bleats, grunts, moos, and snorts.

Question 36

How long does it take young bongos to grow horns?

Answer 36

Three months.

Question 37

Will the bongo give birth in any location?

Answer 37

No. They restrict themselves to particular places and will leave the calves there for up to a week.

Question 38

What do bongos eat?

Answer 38

Leaves, vines, bark, grasses, and fruit.

Question 39

What are two similarities between the bongo and the okapi?

Answer 39

They both have long, prehensile tongues. they both eat charcoal to get salt.

Question 40

How many bongos are left in the wild?

Answer 40

28,000

Question 41

What disease almost eradicated the bongo in the 1890s?

Answer 41

A global outbreak of rinderpest.

Question 42

When was the last case of rinderpest recorded?

Answer 42

2001 (A global eradication campaign helped to eliminate it)

Question 43

What are some predators of the bongo?

Answer 43

Leopards, hyenas, and pythons.

Question 44

Why were humans scared to hunt bongos for a very long time?

Answer 44

Native people believed that touching or eating bongo meat would cause epileptic seizures.

Question 45

How are people protecting the bongo?

Answer 45

They are building bongo sanctuaries and many captive breeding programs are underway.

Question 46

What is a nickname for the bongo?

Answer 46

Ghost of the forest.

Question 47

What is the largest forest antelope?

Answer 47

The bongo.

Question 48

Why do some male bongos have bald spots on their back?

Answer 48

They hold their head back very often and the horns rub off the fur.