Dublin Zoo sees birth of rare bongo

The baby boom at Dublin Zoo shows no signs of letting up with the announcement today of yet another new arrival.

Keepers are celebrating the birth a rare bongo calf, one of Africa’s most endangered antelope species.

There are only between 75 and 140 eastern bongos still existing in the wild, according to Kenya’s Bongo Surveillance Programme.

The animals are recognisable by their striking reddish-brown coat, black and white markings, and slightly spiralled horns.

Dublin Zoo is participating in an international breeding programme to protect the animal from extinction.

The female infant was born on the African Plains habitat of Dublin Zoo in the middle of last month, and weighed 20kgs.

Keepers have advised visitors, however, they are unlikely to catch a glimpse of the new arrival as she spends most of her time resting in dense foliage.

Team leader Helen Clarke-Bennett said: “We are thrilled with the arrival of the bongo calf. There is so few of them left in the wild that successful breeding is essential to the survival of this beautiful species.

“The youngster is fit but still quite shy; she has big ears which look out of proportion on her small body, but she will grow into them. She is already showing signs of liking spinach which also a favourite snack of both her mother and grandmother.”

In the pre-conservation era, the animal’s hide was used to make the popular Afro-Cuban percussion instrument of the same name.

Famed British Tory minster and diarist Alan Clark once found himself in hot water for allegedly referring to Africa as "bongo bongo land".

The birth of the bongo at the Phoenix Park venue comes on the back of a spate of births last year that included two new gorillas, a hippo, a giraffe and a pair of red pandas.

The zoo is now the State’s most popular visitor attraction, drawing a record million visitors last year.