Change language
BohoBio Bio
Hello, my name is Forrest, and this is my BohoBio Bio
|
Name : Forrest the Okapi
Scientific Name : Okapia johnstoni Other Name : forest giraffe Home : Ituri rainforest, Democratic Republic of Congo Favorite Foods : Vegetarian (herbivore) love leaves, fruits, twigs and fungi Personality : daytime wanderer, shy, keep to myself Best Traits : muscular tongue; 4 stomachs; infrasound communication Biggest Concerns : avoiding leopards, surviving human impact Shout out : Okapi Conservation Project Video : Interview with an Okapi |
WHERE I’M FROM
You may see some of my relatives in zoos around the world, but okapis only have one natural home which is the Ituri rainforest in northeast part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. My home is always warm and wet with lots of large trees.
PHYSICAL TRAITS
|
I’m a big animal, about the size of a horse. I weigh around 600 pounds (272 kg) and am about 6 feet (1.8 m) tall as an adult. Females are usually a bit larger than males. I have a pretty rust red to brown color with zebra-like stripes on my hindquarters and legs. These stripes make me easy to see in zoos, but actually make me harder to see in the shadowy rainforest. This is useful for escaping the attention of leopards. I may remind you of a zebra at first sight, but I’m actually in the same family as giraffes and share more traits with them. I have a long neck which helps me reach leaves, and my tongue is strong and more than a foot long which allows me to pull the leaves off stems. My tongue is long enough that I can use it to clean my ears and eyes! Male okapis have small, fur-covered horns, but females don't have these. |
|
FAMILY LIFE
Pregnancy in okapis lasts a long time (at least 14 months!), and a female will have one calf at a time. The calf is weak and easy prey for leopards, so the mother hides the calf in a forest nest when she goes out to feed. Calves feed off their mother’s milk for up to 6 months but start feeding on leaves after about 3 weeks. Calves spend most of their time in the nest for the first month, and to avoid attracting leopards, the calf doesn’t poo until its more than a month old!
Okapis reach adult size when we are 3 years old after which we spend most of our days peacefully wandering through the forests alone. We have scent glands on our feet that allow us to navigate the forest and mark our territory. We males maintain a large territory of about 2 square kilometers that we mark with our urine. We will mate with any receptive female that enters our territory, and females will mate with multiple males. After mating, males don’t help with raising the calves at all.
We okapis have a great adaptation for talking to each other over long distances. It’s called “infrasound” which is sound of such a low pitch humans can’t hear it. Leopards can’t hear it either which also helps with our survival.
Okapis reach adult size when we are 3 years old after which we spend most of our days peacefully wandering through the forests alone. We have scent glands on our feet that allow us to navigate the forest and mark our territory. We males maintain a large territory of about 2 square kilometers that we mark with our urine. We will mate with any receptive female that enters our territory, and females will mate with multiple males. After mating, males don’t help with raising the calves at all.
We okapis have a great adaptation for talking to each other over long distances. It’s called “infrasound” which is sound of such a low pitch humans can’t hear it. Leopards can’t hear it either which also helps with our survival.
|
|
PRESENT & FUTURE
Okapis are considered "endangered" which means our population is small and we are at high risk of extinction. It is difficult to know how many okapis there are, but experts say there are probably about 10-15,00o of us left in the wild. We have benefited a lot from the establishment of the "Okapi Wildlife Reserve" within the Ituri forest. We also really appreciate the work being done by the Okapi Conservation Project and other people who are concerned about our future. So long as the efforts of people trying to protect us and our home are greater than the efforts of people trying to kill us or destroy our home, we will have a future presence on our planet.
