Name of Applicant: REED, H. THEODORE 
Page five 
This page is to be used in explaining the project if additional 
information beyond that given on page one (Item la) is necessary. 
The Bongo is one of the rarest and least well known of the 
antelope family. To the best of my knowledge it has never been 
photographed in the wild and seldom shot due to its acute sense 
of hearing and an amazing ability to maneuver through dense foliage. 
The major accounts of its habits in the wiid have come from hunters. 
Since only nine of these animals have reached captivity, the small 
amount of documentation that has been done was compiled and published 
by R. T. Reuther (Cleveland Zoo) in 1964 in his article "The Bongo-- 
With Noteson Captive Animals" (See Attachment A). 
The field study will begin on June 1, 1968 and continue for 
three months. Messrs. Seago and Parkinson will be working ina 
particular, heavily forested area of the Aberdare Mountains of 
Kenya that they know to be the habitat of a number of Bongos. 
Their observations during this period will establish definitive 
records on the animal's feeding and watering habits, rest and 
activity periods, territorial limits, and perhaps more detailed 
observations of their group behavior, social hierarchy, sexual dis- 
play and mating patterns. Necessarily, their field studies will be 
directed towards establishing trail movements that will enable them 
to make the eventual capture. 
The location of these trails and the Bongo's movements at 
specific times will add greatly to our field knowledge and most 
importantly will allow me to make a more efficient and intensive 
study in the limited time (1 month) that I will have. Their droppings 
will be analyzed to establish food intake and the presence of para- 
sites. Data on the local flora and water supply will be collected 
for further analysis. In a limited area we will try to establish a 
numerical count on the Bongo and other species of wildlife. It may 
be possible to record their tendencies of flight and fight, their 
courtship and territorial behavior and if young are present, the 
relationships within a.fami ly group... Because of the nugged: terrain, 
the animal's elusiveness, and the time limitation, a great deal of 
field research cannot be accomplished but because there is so little 
known of the Bongo what can be documented will be a real scientific 
contribution as well as an invaluable aid in our subseguent captive 
research. 
Upon capture, I, as a veterinarian will examine the animals, 
noting their reaction, taking blood samples, conducting urine and 
feces tests, studying for internal and external parasites, and con- 
firming or rejecting previous observations as to diets, habits, and 
general physiological condition. 
This above data will correlate with the captive research in 
terms of establishing food preference and adaptivity to human con- 
tact, both of which will take place at the site of capture and 
continue through their transfer to quarantine and the National Zoo- 
logical: Park. 
