Okapi Interesting Facts and Features | Okapi Behaviour and Lifestyle | okapi animal |Okapi Diet&Prey
_________________________________________________________
Greetings, friends. (Animals channel) is a YouTube channel dedicated to providing information on the world's animals. Animal shapes, sounds, and qualities. Elephants, tigers, lions, giraffes, crocodiles, and zebras are among the wild creatures. Dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, pigs, tiger, wolves, koala, shark, coyote, pangolin, frog, gorilla, red panda, frog, glass frog, kangaroo rat
giant rat, toads, and other animals that have been tamed and raised by humans. a horse, a cow, a sheep, and a goat... We attempt to provide you with high-quality footage that is accompanied by entertaining, instructive, and informational movies.
please like share and subscribea.
_________________________________________________________
Okapi Classification and Evolution
The Okapi is an elusive, herbivorous animal that is found in a small pocket of tropical mountain forest in central Africa.
Despite its Deer-like appearance the Okapi is actually one of the last remaining ancestors of the Giraffe, which is the tallest animal on Earth.
Along with having a relatively long neck compared to its body size, the most striking feature of the Okapi is the horizontal stripes that are particularly visible on their behinds and give this animal an almost Zebra-like appearance.
The Okapi is a very shy and secretive animal, so much so in fact that they were not recognised as a distinct species by western science until the earth 20th century.
Although they are seldom seen by people, the Okapi is not an endangered species as they are thought to be fairly common in their remote habitats.
Okapi Anatomy and Appearance
Like its distant and much larger ancestor, the Okapi has a long neck which not only helps it to reach leaves that are higher up, but also provides the Okapi with a tool to both defend itself and its territory.
The Okapi has a red-brown coloured coat of fur with horizontal, white striped markings that are found on their hind quarters and at the tops of their legs, and provide the Okapi with excellent camouflage in the dense jungle.
They have white ankles with a dark spot above each hoof and very thick skin to help protect them from injury.
The Okapi has a long head and dark muzzle with large set-back ears which enable the Okapi to detect approaching predators easily.
The Okapi also has an impressively long tongue, which is not only black in colour but it is also prehensile meaning that it is able to grab hold of leaves from the branches above.
The appearance of the Okapi makes it one of the strangest animals alive in the world today.
Okapi Distribution and Habitat
The Okapi is an animal that is found in the dense tropical rainforests of north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo generally at an altitude that can vary between 500 and 1,000 meters, although the majority of individuals are thought to inhabit areas at roughly 800 meters above sea level.
They are incredibly shy and elusive animals and rely heavily on the very thick foliage around them to protect them from being spotted by predators.
The Okapi can also be found in areas where there is a slow-moving fresh water source, but the range of the Okapi is very much limited by natural barriers, with unsuitable habitats on all four sides trapping these animals into the 63,000 square kilometre Ituri Rainforest.
Around a fifth of the rainforest is today made up of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, which is a World Heritage Site.
Although they are thought to be common in their native region, the Okapi has been severely threatened by habitat loss particularly from deforestation.
Okapi Behaviour and Lifestyle
The Okapi is a diurnal animal meaning that they are most active during the day when they spend the majority of their time roaming set paths through the forest in search of food.
They are solitary animals with the exception of the time mothers spend with their calves but are known to tolerate other individuals and may occasionally feed together in small groups for a short period of time.
Okapi have overlapping home ranges with males tending to occupy a larger territory than females, which is marked with both urine and by rubbing their necks on trees.
Males also use their necks to fight with one other to both settle disputes over territory and to compete to mate with a female during the breeding season.
Okapis are known to also communicate with one another using quiet “chuff” sounds and rely heavily on their hearing in the surrounding forest where they are not able to see very far at all.
Информация по комментариям в разработке