Okapi live. Pygmy giraffes - okapi. Okapi habitat

Okapi belongs to the giraffe family. No one knows how many individuals of this species live in the wild. Okapi live exclusively in lowland rainwater tropical forests northern, central and eastern Zaire, as well as on the Zaire-Uganda border.

photo: Derek Keats

Appearance

Although characteristic features males indicate a relationship with a giraffe - okapi and giraffes have small horns on their heads, more precisely, bony outgrowths covered with skin and overgrown with hair, but in appearance okapi is most similar to a zebra. He has relatively long neck. Forehead, neck and body Brown, with light brown or gray areas on the cheeks, throat and chest. Females are slightly taller than males. The stripes on their legs make them invisible in the forest. The length of an adult animal is 2-2.1 m, and its weight is 200-250 kg. Newborns weigh about 16-20 kg.

photo: Derek Keats

Eating habits

Okapi feed mainly on leaves, buds, and shoots of more than 100 various types forest plants. Many of which are known to be poisonous to humans. Therefore, there is an opinion that this is why okapi eat coal obtained from burned forest trees. Carbon, in the form of charcoal, is a good antidote. They also eat grasses, fruits, ferns and mushrooms.

The animal has a long and thin tongue of a bluish color. Okapi does not know how to jump to reach the top branches of a tree, but thanks to its mobile neck and long tongue, the animal reaches branches at a height of up to 3 m.

photo: Alan Hill

Reproduction

Males and females of okapi stay solitary and meet together only in mating season. A female ready for mating marks her territory with a special smell, which is a signal for the male to take action.

Okapi pregnancy is quite long - it lasts 450 days. Newborns are able to stand on their feet within 6-12 hours. They spend the first day or two of life near their mother and explore environment. After this, they find a suitable shelter and form a kind of nest. Over the next two months, they spend 80% of their time in this nest. Secretive behavior promotes rapid growth and provides protection from predators. A disturbed calf will lie motionless in its nest, and the female okapi will aggressively defend her calf. They become independent at the age of nine months.

Males begin to develop their antlers at about one year of age and reach their adult size before they are three years old. They are believed to become sexually mature at around two years of age. In captivity, okapi are known to live up to 33 years.

photo: Paul MOINE

Behavior and habitats

Okapi lives in dense tropical forests, leading a diurnal lifestyle. It is known that it prefers dense, impassable places and moves into them along well-trodden paths. A convenient place for him to live is in shaded places where the branches and leaves of growing trees form dense, light-proof vaults.

Okapi are found singly or in pairs: a female and her offspring. The territories of males and females often overlap, with males' ranges typically being slightly larger than those of females. Although okapi are not social animals, they can spend some time in small groups, such as when feeding.

photo:photocat001

Status and saving

The exact number of okapi in the wild is unknown. It is very difficult to obtain permission to catch this rare animal. Therefore, it is kept very rarely in zoos. Does not reproduce well in captivity. Since 1932, okapi has been protected in Zaire, but it is still hunted to this day. Habitat loss due to deforestation, as well as poaching, continue to limit the species' range and have a detrimental effect on population numbers. The okapi's habitat is very limited, so the future of these animals directly depends on its conservation.

photo: Larry

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Description of okapi

Okapia johnstoni - Johnston's okapi, or simply okapi, is the only artiodactyl of the genus Okapia of the same name, which is part of the giraffe family. However, the most noticeable similarities are observed not so much with giraffes, but with their ancestors, as well as with zebras (in terms of color) and horses (in terms of physique).

Appearance

Okapi is bizarrely beautiful - the velvety reddish-chocolate fur on the head, sides and rump suddenly gives way on the legs to a white tone with uneven black stripes that copy. The tail is moderate (30–40 cm), ending in a tassel. Most of all, okapi resembles an exotically colored horse, which has acquired small horns (ossicones) with keratinized tips that are replaced annually.

This is a large artiodactyl, almost 2 m long, weighing up to 2.5 centners in adulthood with a height at the withers of 1.5–1.72 m. The top of the head and ears repeat the chocolate background of the body, but the muzzle (from the base of the ears to the neck) painted white, with which the large dark eyes. Okapi's ears are wide, tubular and extremely mobile, the neck is much shorter and equal to 2/3 of the length of the body.

This is interesting! Okapi has a long and thin, almost 40-centimeter bluish tongue, with which the animal washes itself, calmly licking its eyes and reaching its ears without strain.

The upper lip is separated in the center by a small vertical strip of bare skin. The okapi does not have a gallbladder, but has cheek pouches on either side of the mouth where food can be stored.

Lifestyle, behavior

Okapi, unlike gregarious giraffes, prefer to exist alone and quite rarely gather in groups (usually this happens when searching for food). The personal territories of males overlap one another and do not have clear boundaries (unlike the territories of females), but they are always larger in area and reach 2.5–5 km2. Animals graze mostly during the day, silently making their way through the thickets, but sometimes they allow themselves twilight forays. They rest at night without losing their inherent vigilance: it is not surprising that okapi’s senses are best developed by hearing and smell.

This is interesting! Johnston's okapi does not have vocal cords, so sounds are produced by exhaling air. Animals communicate with each other by quiet whistling, mooing or softly coughing.

Okapi are meticulously neat and love to lick their beautiful skin for a long time, which does not prevent them from marking their own territory with urine. True, only males leave such scent marks, while females inform about their presence by rubbing their necks with scent glands against the trunks. Males also rub their necks against trees.

When kept collectively, for example in a zoo, okapi begin to observe a clear hierarchy, and in the struggle for dominance they harshly hit their opponents with their heads and hooves. When leadership is achieved, dominant animals even visually try to outdo their subordinates by straightening their necks and raising their heads high. Low-ranking okapi often place their head/neck directly on the ground when expressing respect to their leaders.

How long does an okapi live?

It is believed that in wildlife Okapi live to be 15–25 years old, but live much longer in zoological parks, often exceeding the 30-year mark.

Sexual dimorphism

Males are usually distinguished from females by their ossicones.. The bony outgrowths of the male, 10–12 cm long, are located on the frontal bones and are directed backward and obliquely. The apices of ossicones are often bare or end in small horny sheaths. Most females do not have horns, and if they do grow, they are smaller in size than males and are always completely covered with skin. Another difference concerns body coloring - mature females are darker than males.

History of the discovery of okapi

The discoverer of the okapi was the famous British traveler and explorer of Africa Henry Morton Stanley, who reached the virgin lands in 1890. tropical forests Congo. It was there that he met the pygmies, who were not surprised by the European horses, saying that almost the same animals roamed the local forests. A little later, the information about the “forest horses” contained in one of Stanley’s reports was decided to be checked by a second Englishman, Governor Johnston of Uganda.

A suitable opportunity presented itself in 1899, when the appearance of the “forest horse” (okapi) was described in detail to the governor by pygmies and a missionary named Lloyd. Evidence began to arrive one after another: soon Belgian hunters presented Johnston with 2 fragments of okapi skin, which he sent to the Royal Zoological Society (London).

And only a year later, when two skulls and a complete skin arrived in London, it became clear that they were far from equine, but similar to the remains of extinct ancestors. The unknown animal had to be urgently renamed, borrowing its original name “okapi” from the pygmies.

Range, habitats

Okapi is found exclusively in the area Democratic Republic Congo (formerly Zaire), although not so long ago these artiodactyls could be found in the western part of Uganda.

Most of the population is concentrated in the northeast of the Republic of the Congo, where there are many inaccessible tropical forests. Okapi prefer to live close to river valleys and clearings, no higher than 0.5–1 km above sea level, where green vegetation is abundant.

Okapi diet

In tropical rain forests, often in their lower tiers, okapi search for shoots/leaves of euphorbia trees and shrubs, as well as a variety of fruits, periodically going out to graze on grassy lawns. In total, the okapi food supply includes over 100 species from 13 plant families, most of which enters his diet occasionally.

And only 30 types of plant food are eaten by animals with enviable regularity. The okapi's constant diet consists of both edible and poisonous (albeit to humans) plants:

• green leaves;
• buds and shoots;
• ferns;
• grass;
• fruits;
• mushrooms.

This is interesting! The highest proportion of the daily diet comes from leaves. Okapi plucks them with a sliding movement, having previously grasped the bush shoots with his mobile 40-centimeter tongue.

Analysis of wild okapi droppings showed that the animals eat large quantities of charcoal, as well as the saltpeter-rich brackish clay that covers the banks of local streams and rivers. Biologists have suggested that in this way okapi compensate for the deficiency mineral salts in your body.

Reproduction and offspring

TO mating games Okapi begin their migration in May–June or November–December. At this time, animals change their habit of existing alone and come together to procreate. However, after copulation, the couple breaks up, and all the worries about the offspring fall on the mother’s shoulders. The female carries the fetus for 440 days, and shortly before giving birth, she goes into the wilderness.

Okapi bring one large (from 14 to 30 kg) and completely independent cub, which after 20 minutes already finds milk in the mother’s breast, and after half an hour is able to follow the mother. After birth, the newborn usually lies quietly in a shelter (created by the female a couple of days after birth) while she forages for food. The mother finds the baby by sounds similar to those made by adult okapi - coughing, a barely audible whistle or a low moo.

This is interesting! Thanks to the clever structure of the digestive tract, all mother's milk is absorbed to the last gram, and the little okapi does not have feces (with the smell emanating from it), which largely saves it from land-based predators.

Mother's milk remains in the baby's diet almost until the age of one: for the first six months the baby drinks it constantly, and for the second six months - periodically, from time to time applying to the nipples. Even after switching to independent feeding, the grown cub experiences a strong attachment to its mother and stays close.

However, this connection is strong on both sides - the mother rushes to protect her child, regardless of the degree of danger. Strong hooves are used and strong legs, with which she fights off attacking predators. Full formation of the body in young animals ends no earlier than 3 years of age, although reproductive abilities open much earlier - in females at 1 year 7 months, and in males at 2 years 2 months.

The discovery of okapi in the 20th century caused a huge sensation. Traveler Stanley G. first spoke about these animals. In 1890, he published a report on animals that lived in the forests of the Congo. This information was confirmed 9 years later, when Johnston found confirmation of this information. After this, in 1900, zoologists published a description of a new species of animal, which was initially called “Johnson’s horse.”

Okapi are a species of artiodactyls. Outwardly, these animals are a little similar to zebras, but family ties they have closer to the giraffes. The legs are long and the neck is elongated, but shorter than that of a giraffe. But the blue tongue, which can reach 35 centimeters, is the same as that of giraffes. Males have horns. The dark-colored coat has a brownish-reddish tint. There are horizontal stripes on the legs. At the same time, the fur on the animal’s legs is light, and the stripes are brown and black. It is these stripes that make okapi look like a zebra.

In general, the length of the animal’s body is approximately two to two and a half meters, excluding the tail, the height of the animal reaches one and a half meters. The length of the tail can reach half a meter. With such sizes, the weight of individuals can reach 350 kilograms.

Lifestyle: nutrition and reproduction

Okapi animals have a clearly defined territory. The boundaries of the marked territory are guarded by animals. As a rule, males live separately from females with cubs. The main activity of animals occurs during daytime days.

Representatives of this genus feed, like giraffes:

• tree leaves,
• fruits.
• mushrooms.

Okapi are quite picky when choosing food, but despite this animal can eat poisonous plants and charred trees, burned by lightning strikes. And to compensate for the lack of minerals in the body, the animal feeds on reddish clay near water bodies.

In the spring, you can observe how males engage in battles for females, clashing necks. The mating period is a rare period of time when female and male okapis can be seen together. It happens that a couple is accompanied by a one-year-old cub, to which the male is not yet hostile.

The pregnancy of a female okapi lasts more than a year – approximately 15 months. Childbirth occurs during the rainy season; in Congo, this period begins in August and lasts until October. Childbirth occurs in the most remote places. The first few days when a baby is born lies hidden among the vegetation. Little okapi can moo and whistle softly, and also, like adults, make sounds similar to coughing. The mother finds the cub in the thicket by its voice. At the time of birth, the weight of the cub can reach 30 kilograms.

Feeding babies lasts about six months. It is still not known exactly when the cub becomes independent. After a year, males begin to erupt in horns. From two years of age, animals become sexually mature, and by three years of age, okapi become adults. The lifespan of animals in natural conditions has not been reliably established.

Habitat

In nature, okapi are found only in the tropical forests of northeastern Congo. For example, animals can be found:

• in the Salonga Nature Reserve;
• in the Virunga Nature Reserve;
• in the Maiko Nature Reserve.

Okapi live at altitudes from five hundred to one thousand meters. They choose places where there are a lot of bushes and thickets, because in case of danger they hide among them. Rare, but also found on open plains, closer to water.

Males and females have their own feeding areas. These areas may overlap each other. Males also calmly allow females to pass through their territory.

On this moment There is no exact data on the number of okapi living in the Congo. Destruction of forests negatively affects the number of animals. At the moment okapi are listed in the Red Book as rare animals.

Life in captivity

For a long time zoos could not create conditions for okapi to live. The first time an okapi lived in captivity at the Antwerp Zoo for 50 days happened only in 1919. But from 1928 to 1943, a female okapi lived in this zoo. She died of starvation during World War II. They also did not immediately learn how to reproduce okapi in captivity. The first offspring born in captivity died. Only in 1956 were they able to hatch cubs in Paris.

Okapi is a very fastidious animal. For example, representatives of this genus cannot tolerate sudden changes in temperature and air humidity. They are also very sensitive to the composition of food.

True, in Lately Some success has been achieved in keeping and breeding okapi in captivity. It was noted that young individuals adapt to the conditions of the enclosure faster. At first, they try not to disturb the animal. The composition of the food consists only of familiar food. If the animal senses danger, it may die from stress, since the heart cannot withstand the heavy load.

When the animal calms down and gets used to people a little, it is transported to the zoo. In this case, males and females must be kept separately in the enclosure, and the lighting must be monitored. There should not be more than one brightly lit area in the enclosure. If a female gives birth in captivity, then it is necessary to isolate her and the cub. For them they must create a dark corner, which would imitate a forest thicket.

Once accustomed, okapi become friendly to people. They can even take food directly from your hands.

Bulldozer - Apr 22nd, 2015

Okapi are the only relatives of giraffes, despite the fact that their necks are not long. They look like they are made from parts of different animals: the legs are zebra-like with black and white stripes, the head is gray, and the neck, body and round ears are brown. Okapi's tongue is so large that they can even use it to clean their ears. The height of dwarf giraffes at the withers is 150-170 cm, and they weigh about 200 kg.

Okapi live in small areas in the western part Central Africa, in the humid jungle. They feed mainly on leaves, young branches and various tropical species euphorbia plants and sometimes include berries and herbs in their diet. At the same time, they pinch only the most tender shoots.

Pygmy giraffes– are solitary and meet with other individuals only for mating. This can happen at any time of the year. The offspring stays with the mother for several years.

Since the animals are quite large and well defended, natural enemies they have almost none. An okapi can be attacked by a leopard, hyena or crocodile. Main enemy, as always, is the man who knocks out virgin forests, reducing the living space of the little giraffe.

Since they are very shy animals, Europeans only noticed them in the 19th century. The first to report okapi was African explorer Henry Stanley, who saw forest giraffe near the Congo River. And only in 1901 they were described in detail and received a scientific name.

Video: okapi.

Zebra, Horse or Neither?

Okapi animal, often called by the name of its discoverer Johnston, related to artiodactyls, represents its genus in a single form. Despite the fact that he is considered a relative giraffe, okapi more like .

Indeed, the back part, mainly the legs, are colored like those of. But still, it does not apply to horses. Contrary to strange opinion, with kangaroo, okapi has nothing in common.

In due course the opening okapi - "forest giraffe"“, created a real sensation, and it happened in the 20th century. Although the first information about it was known already at the end of the 19th century. They were published by the famous traveler Stanley, who visited the forests of the Congo. He was surprised, to put it mildly. appearance this creation.

His descriptions then seemed ridiculous to many. Local governor Johnston decided to check this strange information. And indeed, the information turned out to be true - local population knew this animal, called “okapi” in the local dialect, very well.

At first the new kind dubbed “Johnston’s horse,” but after carefully examining the animal, they attributed it to animals that had long disappeared from the face of the earth, and that okapi closer to giraffes than to.

The animal has soft fur, brown in color, with a red tint. Legs white or cream. The muzzle is painted black and white. Males proudly wear a pair of short horns, females are generally hornless. The body reaches a length of up to 2 m, the tail is about 40 cm long. The height of the animal reaches 1.70 cm. Males are slightly lower than females.

Weight can range from 200 to 300 kg. A remarkable feature of the okapi is its tongue - blue and up to 30 cm long. With a long tongue, it licks the eyes and ears, thoroughly cleaning them.

Big ears extremely sensitive. The forest does not allow you to see far, so only excellent hearing and sense of smell save you from the clutches of predators. The voice is hoarse, more like coughing.

Males stay solitary, being separated from females and cubs. It is active mainly during the day and tries to hide at night. Like the giraffe, it feeds primarily on leaves from trees, tearing them off with its strong and flexible tongue.

The short neck does not allow the tops to be eaten; all preference is given to the bottoms. The menu also includes ferns, fruits, herbs and mushrooms. It is picky and eats only a few plants. To compensate for the lack of minerals, the animal eats charcoal and brackish clay.

Females have clear boundaries of their territory, and mark their territory with urine and a resinous, odorous substance from glands located on their legs. When marking territory, they also rub their necks against trees. Males are allowed to intersect with the territory of other males.

But strangers are not welcome, although females are an exception. Okapi stay solitary, but sometimes a short time groups are formed, the reasons for their occurrence are unknown. Communication represents huffing and coughing sounds.

Okapi habitat

Okapi is a rare animal, and from countries where does okapi live, only the territory of the Congo appears. Okapi lives in the dense forests that are rich in the eastern and northern regions of the country, for example the Maiko Nature Reserve.

It is found mainly at altitudes from 500 m to 1000 m above sea level, in densely forested mountains. But it is also found on open plains, closer to the water. Okapi likes to settle where there are a lot of bushes and thickets, in which it is easy to hide.

The exact number is not reliably known. Constant wars in the country do not contribute to an in-depth study of the local flora and fauna. Preliminary estimates indicate 15-18 thousand heads of okapi living in the territory of the Republic of Congo.

Unfortunately, logging, which destroys the habitat for many representatives of the local fauna, has a negative impact on the okapi population. Therefore, it has long been listed in the Red Book.

Reproduction and lifespan

In the spring, males begin to court females, organizing massacres, mainly of a demonstrative nature, actively pushing their necks. After conception, the female remains pregnant for more than a year—450 days. Childbirth occurs mainly during the rainy season. The first days with the baby are spent in complete solitude, in the forest. At the time of birth, he weighs from 15 to 30 kg.

Feeding occurs for about six months, but sometimes much longer - up to a year. During the upbringing process, the female does not lose sight of the baby, constantly calling out to him in her voice. If there is a danger to the offspring, it can even attack a person.

After a year, males begin to develop antlers, and by the age of three they are already adults. From the age of two they are already considered sexually mature. In captivity, okapi live up to thirty years, but it is not known for certain in the wild.

Okapi first appeared at the Antwerp Zoo. But he died soon after living there for only a short time. Subsequently, the first offspring of okapi, obtained in captivity, also died. Only by the middle of the 20th century did they learn to successfully breed it in enclosure conditions.

This is a very whimsical animal - it cannot tolerate sudden temperature changes, it needs stable air humidity. The composition of food should also be approached with special care. This sensitivity allows only a few to survive in zoos northern countries, where cold winters are the norm. There are even fewer of them in private collections.

But recently great success has been achieved in its breeding in captivity. Moreover, the offspring obtained are the most sure sign adaptation of the animal to unusual conditions.

They try to place young ones in zoos - they quickly adapt to the conditions of the enclosure. Moreover, a recently captured animal must undergo psychological quarantine.

There they try not to disturb him too much and, if possible, feed him only his usual food. Fear of people, unfamiliar conditions, food, climate must go away. Otherwise, the okapi may die from stress - this is not uncommon. At the slightest sense of danger, he begins to frantically rush around the cage in a panic attack, his heart and nervous system may not withstand the load.

As soon as he calms down, he is delivered to a zoo or private menagerie. Exactly this ordeal For wild beast. The transportation process should be as gentle as possible.

After the adaptation process, it can be displayed without fear for the pet’s life. Males are kept separate from females. There should not be too much light in the enclosure; only one well-lit area should be left.

If you are lucky, and the female produces offspring, she is immediately isolated in a dark corner, simulating a forest thicket, into which she retires after calving in nature. Of course, it is not always possible to feed him only the usual African vegetation, but it is replaced by vegetation from deciduous trees, local vegetables and herbs, and even crackers. All herbivores love them. Salt, ash and calcium (chalk, eggshells, etc.) should be added to food.

Okapi eventually becomes so accustomed to people that he is not afraid to take treats directly from his hands. They deftly pick it up with their tongue and send it into their mouth. It looks extremely entertaining, which fuels the interest of visitors in this strange creature.