Last month, Denver Zoo celebrated the birth of a rare okapi
(Oh-kah-pee). The female calf, named Kalispell (Kal-i-spell), was born to
mother, Iosi (Ee-oh-see), and father, Jekaro (Jeh-car-oh), on June 27, and is
only the fifth birth of this species at the zoo. Kalispell will remain behind
the scenes for a short while longer, but visitors will soon be able to see
the youngster as she grows and becomes more self-sufficient.
Okapis are known for their striped knee socks…
living relative to the giraffe. In addition to long necks, okapis have
reddish bodies, black-and-white striped legs and 12-inch, purple, prehensile
tongues. Adult okapis weigh between 400 and 500 pounds and stand
approximately five feet tall at the shoulder. Females are generally larger
than males. The okapi’s gestation period is between 14 and 15 months. The
last birth of this species at Denver Zoo was a female calf named Kibongi
(Ki-bong-ey), who was born on November 17, 2007.
Only 21 zoos in North America exhibit the okapi and there are only about a
half-dozen births of these species at zoos annually. It is not known how many
okapis exist in the wild, but there are only 89 okapis in North American
zoos.
The calf was born as part of the Species Survival Plan, (SSP), a cooperative
population management and conservation program for select species in zoos and
aquariums in North America. Each SSP manages the breeding of a species in
order to maintain a healthy and self-sustaining captive population that is
genetically diverse.
Native only to the dense Ituri Forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), survival of the okapi is seriously threatened by unsettled political
conditions and rebel military actions in that part of the DRC. This rare
species was first discovered less than 100 years ago in what is now the
Central African Republic (formerly Zaire). Very little is known about the
behavior of the okapi in the wild due to its shy, elusive nature. Much of
what is known has been learned in zoos in the past 45 years.
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