Well-adapted

Okapis are related to the giraffe. Yet they do look a bit different. This has to do with where they live. In the dense rainforest, being as tall as a giraffe is not a good idea. Then you would bump your head all the time against all the branches. The okapi's dark fur with white stripes at the back is a very good camouflage colour in the dark rainforest. The white stripes look like streaks of sunlight and so the okapi is almost unnoticeable.

Antidote

Okapis live in the rainforest in the middle of Africa. Many different kinds of plants grow here. Okapis mainly eat leaves, but also grass, fruit, thin twigs and mushrooms. All together, they eat more than a hundred different kinds of plants. Some of these plants are poisonous. Researchers have discovered that okapis also eat charcoal from burnt trees. They probably do this because charcoal is a very good antidote.

Secret messages

Okapis make different sounds. They cough, bleat and whistle. But they also make a sound so low that we cannot hear it with our ears. When a mother looks for food in the rainforest, the young okapi stay safely hidden. The low sounds allow mother and cub to talk to each other without predators being able to hear. Just like passing a note in class without the teacher noticing.

Spreading scent

Okapis hardly ever encounter each other in the dense forests. So they don't talk to each other much. Nevertheless, they do leave messages for each other. They cross their front paws and urinate over them. When they then walk through the forest, they leave their own scent everywhere. This is how they let other okapis know which area they live in. Useful, for instance, if you are a male looking for a female to mate with.

Hide and seek

Very little is known about okapis in the wild. This is because they live in dense forests. They also live alone and are very shy. So we are also not sure how many okapis live in the wild. What we do know for sure is that okapi habitat is getting smaller and smaller. Fortunately, there are also large tracts of rainforest protected area. Here, rangers work to keep the okapis and other animals safe.

No nappies needed

A newborn okapi can stand after only 30 minutes. For the first two days, a cub walks behind its mother. Then the mother makes a nest on the ground in a safe place. This is where the cub stays hidden for about two months. During this time, it uses very little energy and drinks very little. As a result, the young okapi does not need to defecate all that time. This makes it difficult for predators to find the cub and thus keeps them safe.