Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012

ATLANTA (AP) -- Atlanta's zoo is welcoming a new eastern bongo calf.

The zoo says 5-year-old eastern bongo Matilda gave birth late Sunday night. The new calf is the second offspring for Matilda and 5-year-old male Tambo. Their first calf, Beauregard, born a year ago, was the first bongo born at Zoo Atlanta.

Matilda and her calf will have a chance to bond in private before zoo guests will be able to see the new arrival. Bongo mothers generally hided newborn calves in the wild to protect them from predators.

Eastern bongos, a kind of antelope, are native to Kenya and are one of the rarest animal species, with fewer than 500 believed to remain in the wild. They have deep, striped reddish coats and big, curved horns.

(Copyright 2012, The Associated Press)