Merida

Merida (born 2019) is a female eastern bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci) on exhibit alongside the male Nakuru in the Trails of Africa section of the Birmingham Zoo. She came to Birmingham from the White Oak Conservation Center in Yulee, Florida.

Eastern bongos are a type of antelope native to mountainous regions of east Africa, and presently restricted to a small and critically endangered wild population inhabiting Mau Eburu Forest in the Aberdare Range in central Kenya. They are large and relatively stocky with bright red-brown fur marked with widely-spaced white stripes and marked by a raised ridge down the spine. Their heads have large, rounded ears and long, upturned spiral horns.

Bongos are conserved in part through a Species Survival Plan developed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in the United States. 47 AZA members participate, with at least one group of 18 captive-bred animals re-introduced into the wild in 2004. Merida was brought to Birmingham as part of that program.