Okapi

Okapi

We are delighted that Carl Knauber Holding GmbH & Co KG has taken over the sponsorship of the okapi(Okapia johnstoni).

The okapi, which is only found in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, only became known to science a good century ago. Encountering these solitary ungulates in the "wild" is extremely unlikely, even in their homeland, as their habitat is the dense tropical rainforest. In its dodgy undergrowth, they are almost impossible to spot due to their coat colour and markings, even when they are foraging through the forest on well-trodden paths during the day.

Almost everything that is known about these strict rainforest inhabitants is therefore based on observations of animals kept in zoos.
They pluck leaves, buds, flowers and twigs from the trees with their blue-black tongue, which can be up to 35 centimetres long. This "gripping tool" is the most striking similarity to their closest relatives: Together with giraffes, okapis belong to the family Giraffidae, the "giraffe-like".

The future of wild okapis is heavily dependent on the management of existing protected areas and the establishment of additional ones where the animals can survive undisturbed by the hunt for "bushmeat" and the destruction of their habitat. Due to their limited range and their specialisation in the rainforest ecosystem, without the consistent implementation of conservation measures, the risk of okapis becoming an endangered species would be very high. In Uganda, where they once occurred, they are already extinct.