Bongo

Tragelaphus eurycerus · The bongo is a large, mostly nocturnal, forest-dwelling antelope native to sub-Saharan Africa.

Bongo
Photo: Maksym Kozlenko, CC BY-SA 4.0
Bongo
Photo: Mathias Appel, CC0
Bongo
Photo: amateur photography by michel, CC BY 2.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderArtiodactyla
FamilyBovidae
GenusTragelaphus
SpeciesTragelaphus eurycerus

Where it lives

Dense lowland rainforests of Central and West Africa; mountain forests of Kenya.

Fun facts

  • Bongos are the third-largest antelope species in the world.
  • Unlike deer with their branched antlers, bongos never shed their spiraled horns and keep the same ones for life.
  • When fleeing through thick brush, a bongo lays its horns back along its spine so the tangle can't slow it down.
  • Bongos crave salt so much that they'll eat burnt wood after a storm to get its minerals.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).