The bongo is a small type of musical drum, originally from Cuba, which produces a high-pitcheded sound. They are usually played in a pair, and struck with the fingers.
Bongos are used as an instrument mainly in South American music and Afro-Cuban jazz.
The bongo is a type of antelope that lives in rain forests in Central, East, and West Africa. Its scientific name is Boocercus eurycerus. The bongo has red-brown fur with a black belly and white stripes on its sides. It has white spots on its cheeks and a ridge of fur along its back. It has large ears and can weigh as much as 900 pounds. Both male and female bongos have spiral horns.
Bongos eat an herbivorous diet including bamboo and shrubs. Leopards, spotted hyenas, lions, and humans prey on them; pythons sometimes eat bongo calves.
Bongos are mainly nocturnal and easily startled. Bongo populations have been greatly reduced by hunting and snares, although some bongo refuges exist.
