Oklahoma City Zoo welcomes young male okapi to family
OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden has a new resident.
The zoo recently welcomed 2-year-old male okapi, Bosomi, from Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kan., as part of a breeding recommendation for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Okapi Species Survival Plan, officials announced Thursday.
Bosomi was matched with the OKC zoo’s 5-year-old female okapi, Kayin.
According to his caretakers, Bosomi is settling in well. He enjoys ear rubs and has already started sampling the different forms of vegetation found throughout his new habitat.
Shortly after arriving at the zoo, Bosomi was introduced to Kayin. Zoo officials said the pair immediately began demonstrating positive behaviors throughout the introduction process, such as smelling and chuffing at each another.
Bosomi is noticeably smaller than Kayin and will not reach adult size until about 3 years old.
Guests can also tell Bosomi apart from Kayin by his lighter coloring and hair-covered horns on top of his head, called ossicones.
“We are delighted to welcome Bosomi and renew our commitment to okapi conservation through a successful breeding program,” said the curator of Hoofstock, Tracey Dolphin. “The last okapi calf born at the OKC Zoo was Kayin back in 2015, so we are hopeful that we’ll be welcoming another okapi calf in the near future.”
The okapi is the only living relative of the giraffe and is native to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Zoo officials said, in the wild, okapi are known for being reclusive, known in the wild as “ghosts of the forest”.
Classified as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, okapi populations in the wild, estimated between 10,000 and 50,000, are currently decreasing primarily because of habitat loss resulting from logging and human settlement.
The presence of illegal armed groups around protected areas and poaching are also major threats.
The zoo encourages guests to help conserve okapi by donating their used electronic devices. Small electronics frequently contain coltan, and mining for this substance threatens the habitats of okapi and other endangered species.
When guests donate used phones or other electronics, the coltan from those devices is reused and reduces the need to mine for the compound in okapi habitats.