On the Hoof: A Measured Comeback for Kenya’s Rarest Antelopes

In the world of wildlife conservation, “endangered” is not just a label—it is a countdown. Species earn the title when their numbers fall so low that extinction in the wild becomes a plausible outcome. By that measure, Kenya’s mountain bongo and hirola antelopes have spent the past two decades flirting with disappearance. Now, thanks to careful intervention, both are beginning to multiply quietly, cautiously, but undeniably.

Let's chart this comeback:

Mountain Bongo: From Crisis to Comeback

By 2020, fewer than 100 mountain bongos (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci) remained in the wild, victims of poaching and habitat loss. These elusive forest antelopes seemed headed for disappearance.

Then came action. Kenya’s Mawingu Sanctuary, opened in 2022, offered a lifeline. By 2024, the population had grown to 150, bolstered by births and carefully planned reintroductions. A new group from a U.S. breeding program arrived in 2025, boosting genetic diversity.

The goal: over 500 wild bongos by 2070. The trajectory is still early, but hopeful.

Hirola: Holding the Line

The hirola (Beatragus hunteri), often called the “four-eyed antelope,” is one of Africa’s rarest. Once numbering in the thousands, the population dropped to around 300 due to disease, predation, and human encroachment. By 2020, only 475 remained.

But inside the Ishaqbini Conservancy, a predator-free zone launched with 48 individuals in 2012, numbers are ticking upward. In 2024, the population reached 497. It’s a small gain, but a significant one. Plans are underway to replicate this model across multiple sites.

Growth, But Fragile

For both species, these gains are measured in single digits. But for animals that hovered at extinction’s edge, even modest growth is meaningful. The strategy—combining breeding programmes, habitat protection, and local engagement—is proving effective, if painstakingly slow.

Conservation is rarely dramatic. It is incremental, bureaucratic, and rarely headline-grabbing. But in Kenya’s forests and grasslands, the numbers are beginning to move in the right direction. For the mountain bongo and the hirola, survival is no longer hypothetical.

It is happening—on the hoof, and just in time.