NANYUKI, Kenya (AP) — The mountain bongo has become the ghost of the forest, hard to spot amid the dense shrubs due to its ability to camouflage.

A critically endangered species , the animal is being slowly reintroduced into the wild by conservationists to increase the number of the rare antelope that are indigenous to Kenya’s forests .

The mountain bongo is a rare antelope known for its brown skin and distinct white stripes. With fewer than 100 individuals left in the wild, a conservancy based in Kenya is breeding them and slowly reintroducing them into the wild, with a target of 750 wild bongos by 2050.

A solitary critically endangered mountain bongo emerges from the forested landscape of Mount Kenya, Africa’s second-highest mountain, in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, Kenya, on Friday, May 8, 2026. AP

Christine Gathoni feeds a critically endangered mountain bongo, sent from the Czech Republic, at the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, Kenya, on May 8, 2026.…