The
Okapi (
Okapia johnstoni; ) is a giraffid artiodactyl
mammalMammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose females are characterized by the possession of mammary glands while both males and females are characterized by sweat glands, hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in the brain.Mammals are divided into three main...
native to the
Ituri RainforestThe Ituri Rainforest is located in the Ituri region of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo formerly called Zaire. The forest's name derives from the nearby Ituri River which flows through the rainforest, connecting firstly to the Aruwimi River and finally into the Congo.- Geography :The Ituri...
, located in the northeast of the
Democratic Republic of the CongoThe Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country located in Central Africa, with a small length of Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest country in Africa...
, in central Africa. Although the Okapi bears striped markings reminiscent of the
zebraZebras are African equids best known for their distinctive white and black stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals and can be seen in small harems to large herds. In addition to their stripes, zebras have erect, mohawk-like manes...
, it is most closely related to the
giraffeThe giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant. It is covered in large, irregular patches of yellow to black fur separated by white, off-white, or dark yellowish brown background. The average mass for an adult male...
. Unknown to Europeans until 1901, today there are approximately 10,000 - 20,000 in the wild and only 40 different worldwide institutions display them.
The genus name
Okapia derives from the
Lese Karo name
o'api, while the species'
epithetAn epithet is a descriptive word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing, which has become a fixed formula...
(
johnstoni) is in recognition of the explorer Sir
Harry JohnstonSir Henry "Harry" Hamilton Johnston, GCMG, KCB , was a British explorer, botanist and colonial administrator, one of the key players in the "Scramble for Africa" that occurred at the end of the 19th century.-Early years:...
, who organized the expedition that first acquired an okapi specimen for science from the Ituri Forest in the
Democratic Republic of the CongoThe Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country located in Central Africa, with a small length of Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest country in Africa...
.
The name "Okapi" is a portmanteau of two
Lese words,
oka a verb meaning to cut and
kpi which is a noun referring to the design made on
EféThe Efé are a group of part-time hunter-gatherer people living in the Ituri Rainforest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the depths of the forest they do not wear much clothing, using only grass huts as shelter for their bodies in the intense heat. The Efé are Pygmies, and one of the shortest...
arrows by wrapping the arrow with bark so as to leave stripes when scorched by fire.
The
Okapi (
Okapia johnstoni; ) is a giraffid artiodactyl
mammalMammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose females are characterized by the possession of mammary glands while both males and females are characterized by sweat glands, hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in the brain.Mammals are divided into three main...
native to the
Ituri RainforestThe Ituri Rainforest is located in the Ituri region of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo formerly called Zaire. The forest's name derives from the nearby Ituri River which flows through the rainforest, connecting firstly to the Aruwimi River and finally into the Congo.- Geography :The Ituri...
, located in the northeast of the
Democratic Republic of the CongoThe Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country located in Central Africa, with a small length of Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest country in Africa...
, in central Africa. Although the Okapi bears striped markings reminiscent of the
zebraZebras are African equids best known for their distinctive white and black stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals and can be seen in small harems to large herds. In addition to their stripes, zebras have erect, mohawk-like manes...
, it is most closely related to the
giraffeThe giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant. It is covered in large, irregular patches of yellow to black fur separated by white, off-white, or dark yellowish brown background. The average mass for an adult male...
. Unknown to Europeans until 1901, today there are approximately 10,000 - 20,000 in the wild and only 40 different worldwide institutions display them.
Etymology
The genus name
Okapia derives from the
Lese Karo name
o'api, while the species'
epithetAn epithet is a descriptive word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing, which has become a fixed formula...
(
johnstoni) is in recognition of the explorer Sir
Harry JohnstonSir Henry "Harry" Hamilton Johnston, GCMG, KCB , was a British explorer, botanist and colonial administrator, one of the key players in the "Scramble for Africa" that occurred at the end of the 19th century.-Early years:...
, who organized the expedition that first acquired an okapi specimen for science from the Ituri Forest in the
Democratic Republic of the CongoThe Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country located in Central Africa, with a small length of Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest country in Africa...
.
The name "Okapi" is a portmanteau of two
Lese words,
oka a verb meaning to cut and
kpi which is a noun referring to the design made on
EféThe Efé are a group of part-time hunter-gatherer people living in the Ituri Rainforest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the depths of the forest they do not wear much clothing, using only grass huts as shelter for their bodies in the intense heat. The Efé are Pygmies, and one of the shortest...
arrows by wrapping the arrow with bark so as to leave stripes when scorched by fire. The stripes on the legs of the Okapi resemble these stripes on the arrow shafts. Lese legend says the okapi decorates itself with these stripes, adding to the okapi's great camouflage.
Characteristics and behavior
Okapis have reddish dark backs, with striking horizontal white stripes on the front and back legs, making them resemble
zebraZebras are African equids best known for their distinctive white and black stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals and can be seen in small harems to large herds. In addition to their stripes, zebras have erect, mohawk-like manes...
s from a distance. These markings are thought to help young follow their mothers through the dense rain forest; they also serve as camouflage in the wild.
The body shape is similar to that of the giraffe, except that okapis have much shorter necks. Both species have very long (approx. 30 cm or 12 inch), flexible, blue tongues that they use to strip leaves and buds from trees.
The tongue of the okapi is long enough for the animal to wash its eyelids and clean its ears (inside and out): it is the only mammal that can lick its own ears. Fourteen to eighteen inches (36-46 cm) in length, the sticky tongue is pointed and bluish gray in color like the giraffe's. Male okapis have short, skin-covered horns called "
ossiconeOssicones are horn-like protuberances on the heads of giraffes, male okapis, and their extinct relatives, such as Sivatherium, and the climacoceratids, such as Climacoceras...
s". They have large
ears, which help them detect their predator, the
leopardThe leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera; the other three being the tiger, lion and jaguar...
.
Okapis are 1.9 to 2.5 m (8.1 ft) long and stand 1.5 to 2.0 m (6.5 ft) high at the shoulder. They have a 30 to 42 cm (12 to 17 in) long tail. Their weight ranges from 200 to 300 kg (440 to 660 lb).
Okapis are primarily
diurnalDiurnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the day and sleeping at night. Animals that are not diurnal might be nocturnal or crepuscular . Many animal species are diurnal, including many mammals, insects and birds...
, although recent photo captures have challenged this long held assumption. A photograph taken in the early hours of the morning around 02:33 shows an okapi feeding in the Watalinga forest in the north of the
Virunga National ParkThe Virunga National Park lies from the Virunga Mountains, to the Rwenzori Mountains, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, bordering Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Rwenzori Mountains National Park in Uganda. Covering it was established in 1925 as Africa's first national park. It...
in eastern DRC, thus providing evidence that they don't only feed during the daytime. Okapis are essentially solitary, coming together only to breed, with the exception of mother-offspring pairs. Breeding behaviors include sniffing, circling and licking each other.
Okapis forage along fixed, well-trodden paths through the forest. They have overlapping home ranges of several square kilometers and typically occur at densities of about 0.6 animals per square kilometer.
The home ranges of males are generally slightly larger than those of females. They are not social animals and prefer to live in large, secluded areas. This has led to problems with the okapi population due to the shrinking size of the land they live on. This lack of territory is caused by development and other social reasons. However, okapis tolerate each other in the wild and may even feed in small groups for short periods of time.
Okapis have several methods of communicating their territory, including
scent glandScent glands are found in the genital area of most mammals and in various other parts of the body, such as the underarms of humans and the preorbital glands of deer. They produce a semi-viscous fluid which contains pheromones. These odor-messengers indicate information such as status, territory...
s on each foot that leave behind a tar-like substance which signals their passage, as well as urine marking. Males are protective of their territory, but allow females to pass through their domain to forage.
Babies don't have imprint, so they get raised by several lactating females all at the same time.
Habitat
Okapis prefer altitudes of 500 to 1,000 m, but may venture above 1,000 m in the eastern
montaneIn biogeography, montane is the highland area located below the subalpine zone. Montane regions generally have cooler temperatures and often have higher rainfall than the adjacent lowland regions, and are frequently home to distinct communities of plants and animals.The term "montane" means "of the...
rainforestRainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm . The monsoon trough, alternately known as the intertropical convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating Earth's tropical rain forests.From 40 to 75%...
s. Because there is a considerable amount of rain in these forests, okapis have an oily, velvety coat of fur that repels the water. They develop this coat early in childhood also as a technique of camouflage.
The range of the okapi is limited by high
montaneIn biogeography, montane is the highland area located below the subalpine zone. Montane regions generally have cooler temperatures and often have higher rainfall than the adjacent lowland regions, and are frequently home to distinct communities of plants and animals.The term "montane" means "of the...
forests to the east, swamp forests below 500 m to the west, savannas of the
SahelThe Sahel or Sahel Belt is a semi-arid tropical savanna and steppe ecoregion in Africa, which forms the transition between the Sahara to the north and the slightly less arid savanna belt to the south, known as the Sudan .-Geography:The Sahel runs 2,400...
/
SudanThe Sudan, from the Arabic bilâd as-sûdân or "land of the Blacks" , is a geographic region stretching from West to Eastern Africa...
to the north, and open woodlands to the south. Okapis are most common in the
WambWAMB is a radio station broadcasting a Adult Standards format to the Nashville, Tennessee, USA area. The station is currently owned by Great Southern Broadcasting Company and features programing from CNN Radio...
a and Epulu areas.
Diet
Okapis are herbivores, eating tree leaves and buds,
grassPoaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the flowering plants. Plants of this family are usually called grasses, or, to distinguish them from other graminoids, true grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo...
,
fernA fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta. The group is also referred to as Polypodiophyta, or Polypodiopsida when treated as a subdivision of tracheophyta...
s,
fruitThe term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from...
, and
fungiA fungus is any member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. The Fungi are classified as a kingdom that is separate from plants, animals and bacteria...
. Many of the plant species fed upon by the okapi are poisonous to humans.
Examination of okapi
fecesFeces, faeces, or fæces is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus during defecation.-Etymology:...
has revealed that the
charcoalCharcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood, sugar, bone char, or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
from trees burnt by
lightningLightning is an atmospheric discharge of electricity accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
is consumed as well. Field observations indicate that the okapi's mineral and salt requirements are filled primarily by a
sulfurSulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Sulfur, in its native form, is a yellow crystalline solid. In nature, it can be found as the pure element and as sulfide and sulfate minerals...
ous, slightly salty, reddish clay found near rivers and streams.
History
The okapi was known to the ancient Egyptians; shortly after its discovery by Europeans, an ancient carved image of the animal was discovered in
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
. For years, Europeans in Africa had heard of an animal that they came to call the 'African
unicornA unicorn is a mythological creature. Though the modern popular image of the unicorn is sometimes that of a horse differing only in the horn on its forehead, the traditional unicorn also has a billy-goat beard, a lion's tail, and cloven hooves—these distinguish it from a horse...
'.
In his travelogue of exploring the Congo,
Henry Morton StanleySir Henry Morton Stanley, GCB, born John Rowlands , was a Welsh journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of Africa and his search for David Livingstone. Stanley is often remembered for the words uttered to Livingstone upon finding him: "Dr...
mentioned a kind of
donkeyThe donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family, and an odd-toed ungulate. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E. africanus. Traditionally, the scientific name for the donkey is Equus asinus asinus based on the principle of...
that the natives called the 'Atti', which scholars later identified as the okapi. Explorers may have seen the fleeting view of the striped backside as the animal fled through the bushes, leading to speculation that the okapi was some sort of rainforest zebra.
When the British governor of
UgandaThe Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania...
, Sir
Harry JohnstonSir Henry "Harry" Hamilton Johnston, GCMG, KCB , was a British explorer, botanist and colonial administrator, one of the key players in the "Scramble for Africa" that occurred at the end of the 19th century.-Early years:...
, discovered some
pygmyPygmy is a term used for various ethnic groups worldwide whose average height is unusually low; anthropologists define pygmy as any group whose adult males grow to less than 150 cm in average height. A member of a slightly taller group is termed pygmoid. The best known pygmies are the Aka,...
inhabitants of the Congo being abducted by a German showman for exhibition in Europe, he rescued them and promised to return them to their homes. The grateful pygmies fed Johnston's curiosity about the animal mentioned in Stanley's book. Johnston was puzzled by the okapi tracks the natives showed him; while he had expected to be on the trail of some sort of forest-dwelling horse, the tracks were of some cloven-hoofed beast.
Though Johnston did not see an okapi himself, he did manage to obtain pieces of striped skin and eventually a skull. From this skull, the okapi was correctly classified as a relative of the
giraffeThe giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant. It is covered in large, irregular patches of yellow to black fur separated by white, off-white, or dark yellowish brown background. The average mass for an adult male...
; in 1901, the species was formally recognized as
Okapia johnstoni.
The first live specimen in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
arrived in
Antwerp||-||-||-||}Antwerp is a city and municipality in Belgium and the capital of the Antwerp province in Flanders, one of Belgium's three regions. Antwerp's total population is 472,071 and its total area is , giving a population density of 2,308 inhabitants per km²...
in 1918. The first okapi to arrive in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
was at the
Bronx ZooThe Bronx Zoo is a zoo located within the Bronx Park, in The Bronx borough of New York City. The largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, the Bronx Zoo comprises of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows...
, via Antwerp, in 1937. The first okapi born in captivity was at
Brookfield ZooThe Brookfield Zoo is a zoo located in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield, Illinois. The zoo covers an area of 216 acres and houses around 450 species of animals....
in Illinois, which directs the Okapi Species Survival Plan for the
Association of Zoos and Aquariumsright|250pxThe Association of Zoos and Aquariums is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation...
(AZA).
Okapi are now reasonably common in zoos around
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
and
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
. Immediately following their discovery,
zooA zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
s around the world attempted to obtain okapis from the wild. These initial attempts were accompanied by a high
mortality rateMortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths in some population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 1000 individuals per year; thus, a mortality rate of 9.5 in a population of 100,000 would mean 950 deaths per...
due to the rigors of traveling thousands of miles by boat and by train. In more recent years, shipment by airplane has proven more successful.
Although the okapi was unknown to the Western world until the 20th century, it was possibly depicted 2,500 years ago on the facade of the
ApadanaThe Apadāna is a collection of biographical stories found in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Pāli Canon, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. It is thought by most scholars to be a late addition to the canon, composed during the 1st and 2nd century BCE...
, at
PersepolisPersepolis was the ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire during the Achaemenid dynasty. Persepolis is situated northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran...
, as a gift from the Ethiopian procession to the Achaemenid kingdom.
The Okapi was adopted as an emblem by the now defunct International Society of Cryptozoology.
Status
Although okapis are not classified as endangered, they are threatened by
habitat destructionHabitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms which previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Habitat destruction by human activity mainly for the purpose...
and
poachingPoaching is the illegal hunting, fishing, trapping, or eating of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws...
. The world population is estimated at 10,000–20,000. Conservation work in the Congo includes the continuing study of okapi behaviour and lifestyle, which led to the creation in 1992 of the
Okapi Wildlife ReserveThe Okapi Wildlife Reserve is a World Heritage Site in the Ituri Forest in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, near the borders with Sudan and Uganda. At approximately 14,000 km², it covers approximately one fifth of the area of the forest....
. The
Congo Civil WarThe term Congo Civil War may refer to:*in the Republic of the Congo, aka Congo-Brazzaville:**Republic of the Congo Civil War *in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, aka Congo-Kinshasa, aka Zaire:...
threatened both the wildlife and the conservation workers in the reserve.
There is an important captive breeding centre at
Epulu, at the heart of the reserve, which is managed jointly by the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (
ICCN) and Gillman International Conservation (
GIC), which in turn receives support from other organisations including UNESCO, the Frankfurt Zoological Society and
WildlifeDirect as well as from zoos around the world. The Wildlife Conservation Society is also active in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve.
On June 8, 2006, scientists reported that evidence of surviving okapis in Congo's
Virunga National ParkThe Virunga National Park lies from the Virunga Mountains, to the Rwenzori Mountains, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, bordering Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Rwenzori Mountains National Park in Uganda. Covering it was established in 1925 as Africa's first national park. It...
had been discovered. This had been the first official okapi sighting in that park since 1959, after nearly half a century. In September 2008, the
Wildlife Conservation SocietyThe Wildlife Conservation Society , formerly the New York Zoological Society , endeavors to save wildlife and wild lands though careful use of science, conservation around the world, education and through a system of urban wildlife parks...
reported that one of their camera traps snapped the first photo ever taken of an okapi in Virunga National Park.
See also
- Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
- Corneille Ewango
Corneille Ewango is a Congolese environmentalist, and was responsible for the Okapi Faunal Reserve's botany program in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1996 to 2003. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2005 for his efforts to protect the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Ituri...
- Cryptid
Cryptid is a term which is used in cryptozoology to refer to a creature whose existence has been suggested but lacks scientific support. This includes purported organisms such as Bigfoot, Yeti, and the Loch Ness Monster....
- Bongo (antelope)
The western or lowland bongo, Tragelaphus eurycerus eurycerus, is a herbivorous, mostly nocturnal forest ungulate and among the largest of the African forest antelope species....
External links
News links