Okapi

Okapi live solitary lives, deep within the forests of central Africa. This elusive species was only discovered in the early 20th century.

Its unique appearance caused confusion for years about the type animal it was, before it was eventually recognised as belonging to the giraffe family. With dark velvety fur and bold stripes on their rear, Okapi are striking beautiful animals. Like giraffes, they have relatively long necks and a long tongue, which they use for browsing and grooming.

Being solitary, Okapi only come together to breed. As in the wild, Chester Zoo’s Okapi prefer to be alone in their separate enclosures for the majority of the time. Keeping staff monitor the animals closely and when our female, Stuma, comes into season (about every 14 days), she is paired together with our male Dicky for about 2-3 days.

Chester Zoo’s Okapi are part of a European Endangered Species Breeding Programme (EEP) and we provide regular support to Gilman International Conservation’s Okapi Conservation Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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