The 20-day-old baby forms part of the Taronga Western Plains Zoo conservation effort for the critically endangered species with only 100 left in the wild.

Bongo zookeeper Carolene Magner said Bongos were “incredible and remarkable to work with”.  

“We’re actually contributing on a regional scale within Australasia, there’s actually only eight Eastern Bongo in our region. However, overseas in total there are 842 captive Easter Bongos. That’s a whole lot more in captivity than in the wild,” Ms Magner said.

“However, we do try to maximise the genetic gene pool we have in Australasia.

“We have recommendations, and a species coordinator that does a bit of tinder work for them so that way we can do the best pairing as best we can especially for their ‘GD’ or genetic diversity which is going to give us the best outcomes.”

Ms Magner said she was thrilled to discover the healthy calf by its mother Djembe’s side in the zoo’s calving stable after zookeepers monitored her leading up to the due date. 

Watch a video of the baby Bongo Kamau. Story continues after video.

“It’s beyond exciting … it’s probably been about 10 years now since we had a Bongo calf here at Taronga Western Plains Zoo so we’re absolutely thrilled,” she said.

Zookeeper’s have been unable to determine the calf’s sex because the mother is protective making it difficult for zookeepers to get close enough. 

It’s name Kamau pronounced Kah-man-oo is unisex and means quiet warrior in Kenya. 

Ms Magner said the calf was going from “strength to strength, it has sampled its first solids, mum’s a bit more relaxed, however still protective.”

“She [mother Djembe] is very instinctively maternal, this is her fifth calf, she basically just looks at a boy and she’s pregnant,” she said. 

“Like all little ones they start to explore their world and interact with it in the most humorous way. That’s amazing and very humbling to watch.” 

She said the calf had already shown it’s confidence. 

“Under good guidance, has play fits that runs around exhibit kicks up its heels and starts to panic its mum and she starts to go chasing after it.”

Ms Magner said it was a privilege to work with such a critically endangered species.

The Eastern Bongo subspecies is critically endangered and under threat in the wild from hunting, illegal trapping for food and skins and habitat loss. It is only found in rain forests with dense undergrowth in tropical Africa.

“They can be quite a shy species, naturally in a herd situation they do lose there timidity but they’re still a sizeable animal so you do need to be respectful of their space. I often think of them to be a little cat like, or a cat with horns, so for an antelope that’s quite different.”

See more Daily Liberal coverage of Taronga Western Plain Zoo this year. 

Do you have a story? Email: antonia.oflaherty@fairfaxmedia.com.au