It’s always a special day at a zoo when a new baby animal is born, especially when it’s part of an endangered species. Each new birth is an important step to ensure the future survival of the species.

Now, a zoo is celebrating the birth of an adorable eastern bongo, a critically endangered species. Potter Park Zoo in Lansing, Michigan, recently announced that a female eastern bongo was born at the zoo on March 5 to a mother named Uzuri. The newborn calf is the fifth eastern bongo born in the zoo’s history and just the second since 2014.

The eastern bongo is a species of antelope native to sub-Saharan Africa. They are the third largest antelope in the world and are distinguished by their white and yellow stripes and long spiral horns.

The species is classified by the IUCN as critically endangered, threatened in the wild by logging and poaching. There are now fewer eastern bongos left in the wild than in captivity.

Given its rarity, the zoo says the birth is good news for this vulnerable species. “Bongs are critically endangered, so every birth is special,” Dr. Ronan Eustace, director of animal health at Potter Park Zoo, said in a news release. “The calf appears healthy and the mother has successfully raised calves in the past.”

There are currently about 300 eastern bongos in AZA-accredited zoos in the United States, and Potter Park Zoo says breeding programs like theirs “play an essential role in preventing their extinction.”

The oriental bongo is a unique and beautiful species. Both female and male eastern bongos grow distinct horns, a rarity in antelope species. The zoo says they also have impressive hearing abilities.

The new arrival is likely to be a bittersweet moment for the zoo, which this week suffered the loss of one of its oldest oriental bongos, Bella. In a Facebook post they say Bella was 14 and a half years old at the time of her death, much longer than the average life expectancy of a bongo in human care.

The newborn calf is currently joining her mother indoors and animal care staff say she is healthy and gaining weight. While she is behind the scenes at the moment, zoo visitors will be able to see the newborn in the near future.

They write that they hope the exciting news of their birth “will inspire more people to act to protect and conserve endangered species like the eastern bongo.”

What an adorable newborn eastern bongo and an inspiring sign of hope for this critically endangered species!

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