Okapi
Okapia johnstoni
33.0976, -116.994
Field Notes
Description:
By far my favorite animal! The video shows it walking and moving its looooong tongue. "Although the okapi bears striped markings reminiscent of zebras, it is most closely related to the giraffe. Okapis have reddish dark backs, with striking horizontal white stripes on the front and back legs, making them resemble zebras from a distance. These markings possibly help young follow their mothers through the dense rain forest and may also serve as camouflage.
The body shape is similar to that of the giraffe, except that okapis have much shorter necks. Both species have very long (approximately 35 centimetres), flexible, blue tongues that they use to strip leaves and buds from trees.
An okapi cleaning its muzzle with its tongue.
The tongue of the okapi is also long enough for the animal to wash its eyelids and clean its ears (inside and out). This sticky tongue is pointed and bluish grey in colour like the giraffe's. Male okapis have short, skin-covered horns called ossicones. They have large ears, which help them detect their predator, the leopard.
Okapis are 1.9 to 2.5 metres (6.2 to 8.2 ft) long and stand 1.5 to 2.0 metres (4.9 to 6.6 ft) high at the shoulder. They have a 30 to 42 centimetres (12 to 17 in) long tail. Their weight ranges from 200 to 300 kilograms (440 to 660 lb). " - Wikipedia
Habitat:
San Diego Zoo Safari Park. "located in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Central Africa. The range of the okapi is limited by high montane forests to the east, swamps to the south-east, swamp forests below 500 m to the west, savannas of the Sahel/Sudan to the north, and open woodlands to the south. Okapis are most common in the Wamba and Epulu areas.
Notes:
"Because there is a considerable amount of rain in these forests, okapis have an oily, velvety coat of fur that repels the water. They develop this coat early in childhood also as a technique of camouflage. Okapis forage along fixed, well-trodden paths through the forest. They have overlapping home ranges of several square kilometres and typically occur at densities of about 0.6 animals per square kilometre (about 1.5 animals per square mile). They are not social animals and prefer to live in large, secluded areas. This has led to problems with the okapi population due to the shrinking size of the land they live on. This lack of territory is caused by human land development and other social reasons." - Wikipedia
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