A critically endangered mountain bongo calf has been born at Marwell Zoo.
The male calf, born on Wednesday, September 4, has already impressed keepers with his feisty nature.
Mother Jumapili (meaning Sunday in Swahili), arrived at Marwell Zoo with her previous calf, Kaska, last year.
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"The calf has been very confident, energetic, and adventurous right from the start.
"He appears quite feisty and has been confidently exploring more and more of his habitat every day - bravely greeting the lesser kudu this week."
Mountain bongos are the largest and heaviest forest antelope species and can be found in four isolated populations in patches of forest in Kenya.
They are listed as critically endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, with only around 100 animals left in the wild.
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Rhiannon added: "This calf is a very important part of the breeding programme and European Ex-situ Programme (EEP) (the species studbook) which endeavours to ensure the survival of this species.”
As they grow, all bongo calves have a chestnut coat with thin white stripes and large floppy ears.
The calf is currently spending most of his time in his bed stall with Jumapili, checking in and feeding him throughout the day.
As he gets older, he will start to venture out more and his chestnut-red colouring will darken to a similar shade as his father, Ituri.
The species faces a number of threats, including hunting with dogs and loss of habitat as well as the risk of diseases from domestic cattle.
Marwell has welcomed a flurry of new arrivals over the last few weeks including a male Rothschild’s giraffe, female zebra foal, who has been named Yahna, and a tiny sitatunga born this week.
They also welcomed four female Przewalski’s horse foals earlier in the year named Xaela, Shara, Ereen and Bilűű.
They have all joined the harem in the valley field outside Café Graze.
For more information about Marwell’s resident animals and to book tickets visit www.marwell.org.uk.
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