Q&A: How innovation is helping to save species

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Controlled genetic management is helping conservationists rebuild endangered species whose wild populations have become too small and genetically fragile to recover naturally. In April, the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy imported four male mountain bongos, Africa’s most endangered antelope species, to support controlled breeding and rebuild wild populations. 

• In this interview, Dr. Robert Aruho, the head of the conservancy, explains how controlled breeding techniques are being used to diversify the genetic pool and prepare captive-born bongos for life in the wild. He also discusses the science behind the rewilding process and how this method can be scaled for other species. 

• “To recover a population of such an important animal, you need a much stronger genetic base. With the four males, which are not related to our population, we can create four herds and four breeding opportunities going on at the same time,”  says Dr. Aruho, “The ultimate success is to see the mountain bongo population sustaining itself and extinction no longer possible in Kenya.”

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