A baby mountain bongo, born two weeks ago at Warsaw Zoo in Poland, was enjoying one of its first walks outside with her mother on Thursday after a cold spell kept her indoors until now.
Mountain bongos, the largest among African forest antelopes, are a critically endangered species with only about 70-80 adults left in the wild, according to the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species.
The animals are nocturnal and have a striking appearance due to their long horns and their reddish brown coat offset with white or yellow markings in the form of thin vertical lines.
"These antelope are difficult to breed - not because of how they reproduce, nor in terms of how many of them there are but because of their character. We are actually one of the only zoos in Europe that keep these antelope in an enclosure that is open for visitors and that is because these antelope are extremely timid," said Sylwia Grodkowska, head of the ungulates section at the Warsaw Zoo.
She said the baby was born during the night to a first time mother and that zoo employees had found the pair when they came to work in the morning.
Due to cold weather the baby had to stay inside for the first few days.
"This is an antelope, and a little antelope. It now has two tasks, eating and sleeping and unfortunately a lot is dependent on this. We are lucky as this is its third walk (outside), it is exploring and it is still excited about the changing surroundings, new smells, which it is encountering. We can see that it is quite active," Grodkowska said.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Marcin Jezierski / Warszawski Ogród Zoologiczny