Okapi

The generic name Okapia derives either from the Mbuba name okapi or the related Lese Karo name o'api,

The okapi is a medium-sized giraffid, it has a long neck, and large and flexible ears. In sharp contrast to the white horizontal stripes on the legs and white ankles, the okapi's coat is a chocolate to reddish brown. The distinctive stripes resemble those of a zebra. These features serve as an effective camouflage amidst dense vegetation. The face, throat, and chest are greyish white. Interdigital glands are present on all four feet, and are slightly larger on the front feet.

Which are similar in form and function to the ossicones of a giraffe, male okapis have short, hair-covered horn-like structures called ossicones and the okapi exhibits sexual dimorphism. While the female was taller on average, slightly redder, and lacking prominent ossicones, instead possessing hair whorls.

Giraffes are curious gentle giants and docile to humans except for the cause. Their main weapon is their head and neck, which they swing at enemies like a wrecking ball causing traumatization and blunted.

Okapis are primarily diurnal, but may be active for a few hours in darkness. They are essentially solitary, coming together only to breed. They have overlapping home ranges and typically occur at densities around 0.6 animals per square kilometer. Males often mark territories and bushes with their urine, while females use common defecation sites. Grooming is a common practice, focused at the earlobes and the neck. Okapis often rub their necks against trees, leaving a brown exudate.

he male is protective of his territory, but allows females to pass through the domain to forage. Males visit female home ranges at breeding time. Although generally tranquil, the okapi can kick and butt with its head to show aggression. As the vocal cords are poorly developed, vocal communication is mainly restricted to three sounds — "chuff" (contact calls used by both sexes), "moan" (by females during courtship) and "bleat" (by infants under stress). Individuals may engage in Flehmen response, a visual expression in which the animal curls back its upper lips, displays the teeth, and inhales through the mouth for a few seconds. The leopard is the main natural predator of the okapi.

Okapi are limited to closed, high canopy forests between about 450 m asl and 1,500 m asl and they occur in a wide range of primary and older secondary forest types. They do not extend into gallery forests or the forest-savannah ecotone and do not persist in disturbed habitats surrounding larger settlements.

Okapis are friendly and social animals by nature. In the wild, they live in herds and spend their time traveling, eating, and resting together. Using their neck was causing trauma.

The okapi is endemic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it occurs north and east of the Congo River. It ranges from the Maiko National Park northward to the Ituri rainforest, then through the river basins of the Rubi, Lake Tele, and Ebola to the west and the Ubangi River further north. Smaller populations exist west and south of the Congo River. It is also common in the Wamba and Epulu areas. It was extinct in Uganda in ancient times, but later became extinct in the late 1970s.

• Movement Pattern: Nomadic

• Individual Type: Solo

• Population Trend: Decreasing

• Population: 22,000

• Locomotion: Terrestrial

• Habitat: Taiga; Montane Grasslands and Shrublands; Temperate Coniferous Forests; Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests; Temperate Deciduous Forests, Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Subtropical Coniferous Forests; Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Salt Flats; Stone Forest; Tropical Coniferous Forests; Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Grasslands; Tropical Savannas and Shrublands; Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub; Mushroom Forests; Mushroom Fields; Deserts and Xeric Shrublands; Badlands; Flooded Grasslands and Savannas; Swamp; Bayous/Billabongs; Riparian; Wetland; Mangrove Forest; Cold Bamboo Forests; Tropical Bamboo Forests.

• Earth: 

  • Extant (Resident): Democratic Republic of the Congo

  • Extinct: Uganda

• Berbania: Hirojafza

• Reinachos: Pascua

Coming soon

Although the okapi was unknown to the Western world until the 20th century, it may have been depicted since the early fifth century BCE on the façade of the Apadana at Persepolis, a gift from the Ethiopian procession to the Achaemenid kingdom. The facade in the description was either a giraffe calf or okapi in ancient history from the processor in Eritrea or Ethiopia. The okapi is sometimes referred to as a living fossil, as it has existed as a species over a long geological time period, and morphologically resembles more primitive forms.

Earth

• Tagalog: Okapi (ᜂᜃᜉᜒ)

• Indonesian: Okapi

• Hawaiian: Okapi

• Maori: Okapi

• Thai: โอคาปิ

• Mandarin: 㺢㹢狓 (Huòjiāpí)

• Korean: 오가비 (Ogabi), 오카피 (Okapi)

• Japanese: オカピ (Okapi)

• Turkish: Okapi

• Hungarian: Okapi

• Belarusian: Акапі

• Polish: Okapi

• Esperanto: Okapio

• French: Ocapi, Okapi, Mondonga

• Spanish: Okapi, Mondonga

• Aragonese: Ocapi, Okapi

• Afrikaans: Okapi

• Deutsch: Okapi

• Congolese: Atti

• Lingala: Mondonga

Coming soon

• Coming soon

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okapi

• https://oi.uchicago.edu/collections/photographic-archives/persepolis/apadana 

• https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15188/51140517 

• https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/okapi 

• https://a-z-animals.com/animals/okapi/

• https://denverzoo.org/animals/okapi/

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Okapi-918644947