Who is it - a horse, a zebra or a giraffe? Its appearance combines all the signs of these animals. At first glance, okapi look like horses, but their neck and limbs are longer than those of an ordinary horse. And the coloring is generally misleading.
Okapis are rare view artiodactyl animals from the giraffe family.
They live exclusively in the Congo Basin ( Democratic Republic Congo). Okapis prefer dense tropical forests in the north or east of this country.
The okapi has a very beautiful and bizarre color: the muzzle is dark white, the legs and rump are painted in black and white stripes, and the body itself has a noble chocolate color, which shimmers in the sun with various shades of red.
Unusual color okapi 
Legs and rump in black and white stripes, like a zebra 
The height of the animal at the withers reaches 160 centimeters, and the length from head to tail is 2 meters. Despite their not too big sizes they weigh decently, up to 250 kilograms.
Comparison with a giraffe Males are slightly lower than females, they have 2 short horns on their heads. Females cannot boast of such a “head decoration”.
Male okapi with "head ornament" 
Females without horns Their language of blue color, just like a chow-chow dog. In addition, it is so long that the animal can easily reach them to the eyes. They need a tongue of this length to grab succulent leaves from tree branches. In addition to the leaves of trees, okapi are very fond of fruits and mushrooms, they can also eat grass or ferns.
Long tongue Okapis are diurnal animals, but still try not to catch anyone's eye. They are skittish. They prefer to stay alone. Very rarely in nature they can be found in small groups. Only in the mating season they go in pairs. Sometimes a couple is accompanied by last year's cub.
Okapi pregnancy lasts 450 days!!! They give birth during the rainy season, which lasts from August to October. For childbirth, the female is looking for a quiet and remote place. A newborn cub, until it gets stronger, hides in its shelter. The mother finds him by his voice. First, she gives a kind of lowing signal with a slight whistle, and the baby responds. The female and the cub are very attached to each other.
With the phrase “pygmy giraffes”, the imagination automatically helpfully provides a picture of an animal familiar from childhood, only in a smaller copy. However, the reality is not quite like that. Outwardly, this amazing animal does not at all resemble its long-necked relative. What is the real name of a pygmy giraffe? Where does he live? Under what circumstances was this amazing creature discovered?
Homeland okapi
AT natural environment okapis live in only one single place on our planet - in the northeastern territory of the Democratic. This is a swampy area located between three large lakes, overgrown with impenetrable tropical forest.
It is in these wilds that dwarf giraffes hide. About how they turned out to be a suitable place for quiet life animals, is also evidenced by the fact that they became known to science only in 1901. And this news made a real sensation in the circles of specialists.
Discovery of a new mammal
For the first time, G. M. Stanley, an African explorer, casually mentioned an unknown animal in his book. This fact seriously interested Harry Johnston, who was at that time the governor of Uganda. Information about the okapi (as the local aboriginal pygmies called this animal) could only be collected bit by bit. And in the literal sense of the word.
First, Johnston got hold of a couple of okapi skin scraps. Then he managed to see two skulls and a whole skin. Upon receiving a copy of the okapi skull, Johnston immediately realized that the animal was a giraffe. He sent all the data to London. There the new kind received official name- Okapi Johnston.
strange combination
Dwarf okapi giraffes look pretty cute, but it's hard to dismiss the idea that this is some incredible combination of different animals. From the croup to the middle of the hind legs, they have a color like that of a zebra. The same stripes are on the upper part of the front legs. Below, all four limbs are completely white, but at the base of the hooves there is a wide
The shape of the body is most reminiscent of an antelope, but the size of an okapi is about the size of a horse. and long, and the horns are almost invisible. But with their tongues, pygmy giraffes can compete even with an anteater. It is so long that the animal calmly cleans its eyes and ears with it, both inside and out.
The okapi's tongue is blue, like a Chow Chow dog or a giraffe. With this very sticky and mobile organ, they deftly tear off the delicate foliage from the trees.
habits
Up to today we know little about the habits of animals in their natural environment. Basically, all observations are made for individuals in captivity.
Okapi feed on leaves and young shoots of trees. And minerals and essential salts are extracted directly from clay, which is eaten along with plant foods.
Until recently, it was even believed that the okapi led night image life. However, it is not. Just these shy creatures very careful, and it is almost impossible to stumble upon them during the day. Okapis have extremely sensitive hearing. Therefore, it is not easy for predators, and for humans too, to catch them by surprise.
The pygmy giraffe, whose name is so unusual for our ears, can live in captivity for more than three decades.
Pregnancy in females lasts more than a year - approximately 15 months. For childbirth, okapi choose remote, hard-to-reach corners. Babies are fed milk for six months.
Okapi prefer a solitary lifestyle. They have a marked territory, but it often happens that pasture areas of several individuals may overlap. They are also very difficult to tolerate habitat changes, so they are rarely seen in zoos.
Okapi is a unique animal that lives in the Republic of the Congo (Africa). By appearance it looks like a baby zebra and giraffe, which is why it is informally called "zebrogiraffe". At first glance, the animal can also be mistaken for an unusual-looking horse, if not for the shape of the head and the stripes on the legs. What is this amazing artiodactyl? We offer a couple of interesting facts about okapi.
Origin
- In fact, this animal is also called the pygmy forest giraffe. The okapi is a relative of the giraffe and belongs to the giraffidae family.
- The rest of the world discovered the okapi only in the 20th century. Prior to this, only the population of the Congo knew that such a "outlandish horse" exists.
- Habitat forest giraffe- Republic of the Congo. Nowhere else, except for the Congo River basin, does it live.
Appearance
- One of the most amazing features of this animal is a strikingly long bluish tongue. Its tongue is as much as 35.5 centimeters long and is designed to care for the ears and eyes, as well as to get leaves from trees.
- Okapi has a varied and very original color. The legs and rump of the animal are covered black and white stripes, the muzzle is dark, and the body is colored red-brown.
- The forest giraffe is an order of magnitude inferior to its relative in size. The height at the withers is about 160 centimeters, the length from head to tail is 2 meters. However, okapi weigh quite a lot for their small size - up to 250 kilograms.
Lifestyle
- Zebrogiraffe is a herbivore. The okapi diet consists of various kinds of leaves, ferns and herbs, and the animal also likes to eat mushrooms and fruits.
- These animals have a very shy nature and are active mainly during the day. Also, they almost never gather in herds, but live alone. The exception is pairs during the mating season and cubs that stay with their mother for several years.
- The okapi's worst enemy is the leopard. Besides him, in wild nature the forest giraffe has practically no enemies, as the animal has a decent size and perfectly defends itself.
Sometimes nature creates for real amazing creatures and this is one of them. Who would have thought that for many centuries "Atti" (as the locals called it) was hiding from the eyes of the whole world. Unfortunately, the discovery has negative sides: due to human cruelty, the forest giraffe is now listed as an endangered animal.
Forest giraffe OKAPI November 13th, 2013
OKAPI (Okapia johnstoni)- artiodactyl animal of the giraffe family. Endemic to Zaire. Inhabits tropical rain forests, where it feeds on shoots and leaves of milkweeds, as well as the fruits of various plants.
This is a rather large animal: body length is about 2 m, height at the shoulders is 1.5-1.72 m, weight is about 250 kg. Unlike the giraffe, the okapi has a moderately long neck. Long ears, large expressive eyes and a tail ending in a tassel complement appearance this largely enigmatic animal. The coloration is very peculiar: the body is reddish-brown, the legs are white with dark transverse stripes on the thighs and shoulders. Males have a pair of small, skin-covered horns with horn "tips" on their heads, which are replaced annually. The tongue is long and thin, bluish in color.
We take a giraffe, add a zebra to it and get OKAPI.
The story of the discovery of the okapi is one of the biggest zoological sensations of the 20th century. The first information about an unknown animal was received in 1890. famous traveler G. Stanley, who managed to get to the virgin forests of the Congo basin. In his report, Stanley said that the pygmies who saw his horses were not surprised (contrary to expectations!) And explained that similar animals are found in their forests. A few years later, the then governor of Uganda, the Englishman Johnston, decided to check Stanley's words: the information about unknown "forest horses" seemed ridiculous. However, during the 1899 expedition, Johnston managed to find confirmation of Stanley's words: first, the pygmies, and then the white missionary Lloyd, described to Johnston the appearance of the "forest horse" and reported it local name - okapi.
And then Johnston was even more lucky: in Fort Beni, the Belgians gave him two pieces of okapi skin! They were sent to London to the Royal Zoological Society. Examination of them showed that the skin does not belong to any of the known species zebras, and in December 1900 the zoologist Sclater published a description of a new species of animal, giving it the name "Johnston's horse."
Only in June 1901, when a full skin and two skulls were sent to London, it turned out that they did not belong to a horse, but were close to the bones of long-extinct animals. It was, therefore, a completely new species. That's how it was legitimized modern name okapi is a name that has been common for thousands of years among the pygmies from the forests of Ituri. However, okapi remained almost inaccessible. For a long time, requests from zoos were also unsuccessful.
It was not until 1919 that the Antwerp Zoo received the first young okapi, who lived in Europe for only 50 days. Several more attempts ended in failure. However, in 1928, a female okapi named Tele arrived at the Antwerp Zoo. She lived until 1943 and died of starvation already during the Second World War. And in 1954, the first okapi cub was born in the same Antwerp zoo, which, unfortunately, soon died. The first is completely successful breeding okapi was achieved in 1956 in Paris.
Currently, in Epulu (Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa) there is a special station for catching live okapis. According to some reports, okapi are kept in 18 zoos in the world and successfully breed.
We still know little about the life of the okapi in the wild. Few Europeans saw this animal in general in a natural setting. The distribution of okapi is limited to a relatively small area in the Congo Basin, occupied by dense and inaccessible tropical forests. However, even within this woodland okapi are found only in a few lightened places near rivers and glades, where green vegetation from the upper tier descends to the ground.
Under the continuous canopy of the forest, okapi cannot live - they simply have nothing to eat. The food of the okapi is mainly leaves: with their long and flexible tongue, the animals capture the young shoot of the bush and then rip off the foliage from it with a sliding motion. Only occasionally do they graze on lawns with grass. As the studies of the zoologist De Medina showed, the okapi is quite picky in the choice of food: from 13 families of plants that form lower tier rainforest, it regularly uses only 30 species. Okapi droppings also contained charcoal and brackish clay containing saltpeter from the banks of forest streams. Apparently, this is how the animal compensates for the lack of mineral feed. Okapis feed during daylight hours.
Okapi are solitary animals. Only during mating, the female joins the male for several days. Sometimes such a pair is accompanied by last year's cub, to which the adult male does not experience hostile feelings. Pregnancy lasts about 440 days, childbirth occurs in August - October, during the rainy season. For childbirth, the female retires to the most remote places, and the newborn cub lies hidden in the thicket for several days. The mother finds him by his voice. The voice of adult okapi resembles a quiet cough - due to the lack of vocal cords. The same sounds are made by the cub, but it can also moo softly like a calf or occasionally whistle softly. The mother is very attached to the baby: there are cases when the female tried to drive even people away from the cub. Of the sense organs, the okapi has the most developed hearing and sense of smell.
Okapis live in tropical forests Africa in the Congo Basin (Zaire). These are small, very timid animals, similar in color to a zebra, from the giraffe family. Okapi usually graze alone, silently making their way through the forest thickets. Okapis are so sensitive that even pygmies cannot sneak up on them. They lure these animals into traps.
With its forty-centimeter tongue, the okapi can do amazing things, such as licking behind its black ears with a red border. Inside the mouth on both sides it has pockets in which it can store food.
Okapis are very neat animals. They like to take care of their skin for a long time.
It has not yet been possible to fully study the life and habits of the okapi. Due to unsettled political power in the Congo with permanent civil wars, and also because of the fearfulness and secrecy of animals, little is known about their life in the wild. Deforestation undoubtedly affects the population. According to the most rough estimates, there are only 10-20 thousand individuals of the okapi. There are 45 of them in zoos around the world.
Both males and females have their own foraging areas, but these are not territorial animals, their holdings overlap, and sometimes okapis can graze together in small groups during short period time. Okapis are also known to communicate with each other using low "puffing" sounds and rely on hearing in the surrounding forest where they are unable to see very far.
They feed mainly on leaves, herbs, fruits, and fungi, some of which are known to be poisonous. It has been suggested that this is why, in addition, okapis also eat charcoal from burnt trees, which is an excellent antidote after ingesting toxins. Along with consuming a huge variety of plant material, okapi also eat clay, which provides their body with the necessary salts and minerals in its plant-based diet.
Okapi animal is sole representative in its genus from the Giraffe family, which belongs to the Artiodactyl order.
The external data of a wild animal is somewhat reminiscent of a horse, and besides, there are characteristic white stripes on its shins that can confuse you and make you think that this is a zebra.
We hasten to assure you that this is not so, and in this article, we will lift the veil of secrets and tell you the whole truth about these very shy and secretive animals.
Appearance
body length adult reaches 2.5 meters, growth at the withers is from 152 to 173 cm. The tail is average 35-45 cm, weight reaches up to 255 kg. The eyes are pronounced, the ears are large and long. The tongue of the beast is so long that he is able to lick his eyes with it.
On the head of the animal there are two small horns, but only in the male, the female does not have them. It is noteworthy that the female is several centimeters taller than the male.
The color of the coat of a chocolate-colored mammal, the coat is smooth and velvety, it shimmers in a scarlet hue. The legs are long, of course not as long as those, but much stronger and more powerful. They have whitish or dark tones, the muzzle is black and white. The neck is long and endowed with powerful and elastic muscles.
Habitat
The okapi animal lives in central Africa in the Republic of the Congo. Preferred places for living and breeding are tropical dense forests in the northern and eastern parts of the country. These places have the status of reserves, such as:
- Virunga;
- Salonga;
- Maiko;
Many lovers of these exotic are interested in total animals living in this area. Nobody has official data, because this species leads a secretive life. According to unofficial data, there are from 40 to 55 thousand of them, and in zoos different countries there are no more than 162 of them.
It is sad, but we have to admit that every year their number is steadily declining due to constant deforestation, thereby forcing the population to look for new places to live. The fact is that the okapi is very difficult to adapt to unfamiliar territories, and often simply dies. The body of this species of animals is stress-resistant, which also adversely affects their numbers.
Lifestyle, nutrition
The diet of the mountain giraffe, also called the okapi, is no different from its counterpart, the common giraffe. It actively eats the deciduous part of woody plants.
The beast captures with its long and powerful tongue a young shoot, sliding a little pulling towards itself, rips off the entire leafy part. But that's not all the food he can eat. Here are a few other types of food he often eats:
- Mushrooms;
- Fruit;
- ferns;
However, our hero is very picky about food. Scientists have recorded that out of 14 plant families, he pays royal attention to only 29 species of herbs.
Charcoal and clay were found in the animal's feces, which he eats off the coast. forest rivers. Apparently, okapi replenishes the deficiency of minerals in the body.
They eat in the daytime and spend all the activity of their life in the daytime. After dusk, they stay overnight in the same place. Basically they lead solitary image life, but they can stray into small groups. What makes them do this is not known for certain.
reproduction
Period mating season occurs from May to the end of July. The animal brings offspring of the okapi during the rainy season from August to October, until this time the female carries the baby in her womb for more than 450 days.
When it comes important point, the female tries to go to the most thorny places in order to give birth in complete solitude. For some time the baby is left alone. When she returns to give the baby her fatty milk, she makes special sounds to which the little okapi responds, the sound of the cub more often resembles a cough.
At first, the mother protects her offspring, there were such situations that she even attacked people in order to protect her offspring.
Lifespan
In the wild, the animal lives no more than 30 years. Under special conditions of keeping and feeding, it can live up to 40 years.
More more photos with okapi in good resolution is possible.
P.S.
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