Future of Eastern Bongo in Australasia

Update from World Bongo Day 2024 that we have five bongo in the region (i.e. no further deaths):

Monarto Safari Park:

1.0 Isaac (20/01/2012) Ndugu x Binti

Taronga Zoo:

1.0 Ekundu (23/11/2005) Marraquie x Shani

Taronga Western Plains Zoo:

0.1 Maisha (00/00/2013) Imported 2016
1.0 Kamau (05/09/2018) Kulungu x Djembe
1.0 Masikio (21/11/2022) Kulungu x Djembe
 
Zoofan15 said:
Update from World Bongo Day 2024 that we have five bongo in the region (i.e. no further deaths):

Monarto Safari Park:

1.0 Isaac (20/01/2012) Ndugu x Binti

Taronga Zoo:

1.0 Ekundu (23/11/2005) Marraquie x Shani

Taronga Western Plains Zoo:

0.1 Maisha (00/00/2013) Imported 2016
1.0 Kamau (05/09/2018) Kulungu x Djembe
1.0 Masikio (21/11/2022) Kulungu x Djembe
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That is good news. Taronga's post also mentioned that Ekundu has sired four calves, which implies to me that Djembe's fourth calf (likely a non-surviving calf) was sired by Ekundu when she was still at Taronga, rather than her first calf at TWPZ with Kulungu. There's a possibility the fourth calf is Rambo, but I doubt it because it's unlikely his birth went unreported and it would have been quite a tight timeframe for Djembe to have had a surviving calf in 2016 before her transfer to TWPZ (she was there and integrated with Maisha by late 2017).
 
Abbey said:
That is good news. Taronga's post also mentioned that Ekundu has sired four calves, which implies to me that Djembe's fourth calf (likely a non-surviving calf) was sired by Ekundu when she was still at Taronga, rather than her first calf at TWPZ with Kulungu. There's a possibility the fourth calf is Rambo, but I doubt it because it's unlikely his birth went unreported and it would have been quite a tight timeframe for Djembe to have had a surviving calf in 2016 before her transfer to TWPZ (she was there and integrated with Maisha by late 2017).
Click to expand...

I have 5.1 calves listed for Djembe:

0.1 Kiazi born 02/04/2012
1.0 Tambo born 29/11/2013
1.0 Mshindi born 08/02/2015
1.0 Kamau born 05/09/2018
1.0 Jabali born 01/12/2019
1.0 Masikio born 21/11/2022

Mshindi was reported to be Djembe’s third calf; and Kamau and Jabali her fifth and sixth. Djembe’s fourth calf was presumably a stillbirth/non surviving calf in either 2016 or 2017 (and sired by Ekundu).
 
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Hopefully in the future we can get some fresh imports, even if it is only a couple of females to kick things of. It's rather unfortunate that we have had so many males born.
 
Tiger91 said:
Hopefully in the future we can get some fresh imports, even if it is only a couple of females to kick things of. It's rather unfortunate that we have had so many males born.
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Yes, if Djembe had had other daughters beyond the female we sent to Singapore; or the female we received in exchange (Maisha) had bred, the regional population could be looking very different by now.

As seen by Djembe’s reproductive records, they can produce offspring every 15-18 months and can breed from the age of two or three throughout their life, so it wouldn’t have been hard to build up numbers with some luck. The loss of Melbourne’s breeding female was also a big blow.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Singapore Zoo currently maintains 0.2 Eastern mountain bongo.
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Do you happen to know if the female Kiazi (b. 2012 at Taronga to Ekundu x Djembe) is still alive and/or whether she had any offspring? I would be interested to find out what happened to her after she transferred to Singapore. The male Zawadi (b. 2003 at Taronga to Nyeri x Nambala) also transferred to Singapore I believe - I gather he would be deceased now.
 
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