Success for Poles: An endangered antelope was born in Warsaw
The Warsaw Zoo welcomed a baby bongo antelope. It is an endangered subspecies.
There are only 140 mountain bongo antelopes in the world, of which 19 live in Poland. Each birth of another representative of this subspecies is therefore a major event and has already been described as a “breeding success on a national scale.”
A young bongo antelope was born at the Warsaw Zoo.
“Welcome the new resident of the Warsaw Zoo, a native of Warsaw with African roots,” we read on the Warsaw Zoo’s Facebook profile. From the same message, we learned that the young animal will be named Porzeczka.
“This lovely female came into the world on June 26. She is the child of Walkiria (called Wala) and handsome Frank. Right after birth, the antelope quickly stood up and began to suckle her mother’s milk. Mama Wala is very protective and does not leave her little one’s side,” the animal’s guardians added.
A critically endangered species of antelope
According to their report, the little antelope had already taken its first walk with its mother on Wednesday, July 3. There are also 6 bongos in Warsaw: a male, Franek, and 5 females: Chilli, Walkiria, Maliki, Hela, and recently Porzeczka. Melody was born there earlier, but was transported to the zoo in Wrocław last year.
Native to Africa, the bongo antelope is the largest of the forest antelopes in Africa. The breeding of this particular subspecies is coordinated by the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) as part of the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP). Only in such conditions does it have a chance of survival. It is still listed as critically endangered.
