Okapi -Author excerpt - Amazing Animals of Disney's Animal Kingdom® by Sandi Jerome

An excerpt from my book, Amazing Animals of Disney's Animal Kingdom. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QDW7B9H For school orders - available on Ingram Books ISBN 9781736034842 Subscribe to my free newsletter for free things! https://www.sandijerome.com/ My name is Sandi Jerome and this is an excerpt from my book, The Amazing Animals of Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Although the Okapi might look like a zebra with those stripes, it is actually related to the giraffe. They are often called the forest giraffe. The males have similar skin-covered horns like the giraffe.

Both the male and females have a long, prehensile black tongue. Prehensile means that the tongue is able to grasp, the way a monkey can use its prehensile tail to swing between trees. This tongue is so long that they will use it to groom their eyes and ears.

The Okapi likes to eat fruit, tree leaves, grasses, and ferns. It has large and flexible ears and a long neck. Both the giraffe and the okapi include a similar walk. Both have a “pacing gait,” stepping simultaneously with the front and the hind leg on the same side of the body.

The Okapi population continues to decline due to poaching and habitat loss from commercial logging and mining. The Okapi can be found in dense rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are so reclusive that they are rarely encountered in the wild.

When you are lucky enough to see these at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, they are usually alone. But if you do see two of them together it is normally a mother and her calf. As an endangered species, Disney has been trying to breed these under the guidelines of the Species Survival Plan.

They were successful when Zelda was chosen to mate with Mandazi. A new calf was born. A baby calf can stand up within 30 minutes of being born.You can find the Okapi on the Gorilla Falls Trail, on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride, and at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The scientific name of the Okapi is Okapia johnstoni.