There's so much to obsess over, and frankly adore, when it comes to the bongo that it is difficult to know what to swoon over first.
Is it the dramatic stripes we love best? Those ginormous ears? The sweet muzzle? All of the above?
This beauty of a big antelope has some many considerable qualities, but when a baby bongo is born, we just want to scroll through a compelling series of emotion-producing pictures, again and again.
These photos star the animal park's newest baby, a female Eastern bongo. Get to know a bit about her now, and her herd, too, while letting the snapshots below speak to your more blissed-out, bongo-obsessed emotions.
7 photos
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Jamie Pham
"The yet unnamed female Eastern bongo calf was born May 2 to mother Frenchy and father Moyo," revealed the zoo. This photo is the most recent of the baby's photos, but the images below appear in chronological order, from her youngest age to the photo above).
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Jamie Pham
"She spent a week with mom and then was introduced to the herd on May 13. All went well."
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Jamie Pham
The baby's father Moyo " ...was the first Easter bongo calf born at the L.A. Zoo in more than 20 years. He was born on January 20, 2017."
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Jamie Pham
"The LA Zoo had always exhibited the Eastern bongo. But, prior to Moyo’s birth, we prioritized breeding the Eastern bongo due to rapidly dwindling numbers in the wild."
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Jamie Pham
"Due to threats such as habitat destruction and poaching in its native range in Africa, there are currently fewer than 100 Eastern bongo individuals that survive in four fragmented areas in the Aberdares Forest and on Mt. Kenya," shared the LA Zoo team.
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Jamie Pham
The LA Zoo and Botanical Gardens is currently closed due to the coronavirus response.
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Jamie Pham
For more bongo news, and updates on all of your favorite animals, check in with the zoo's social pages, where new photos appear daily.
