There al already born 3 okapi's this year and there are 4 others pregnant. Born in 2007 : Steve (M) *23-01-'07 Stuttgart (Vitu + Kabinda) Zukuma (M) *18-02-'07 Koln (Tiemen + Kisanga) Stacy (F) *29-06-'07 Stuttgart (Vitu + Ibina)
Look if you get sick of all those Okapis just send a few down under, I am sure we can find the space for them!.
would that be because the zoo community dont want them, and prefer to concentrate on other more high priority species, or because of there scacity in captivity. also, do they have a more specialised diet than giraffe?
The species is not remmended by the TAG, but I'm not sure why. Maybe any or all of: they take up too much space (we can't hold everything); difficult to obtain, difficult to import; not enough zoos wanted to hold them (therefore not enough to make a viable population here). I've got no idea what they eat (other than leafy stuff!), but I bet a Google search would tell you
i'de have a guess and say the answer is - there just isn't any to send here that haven't already been "dibbed"... from what i have read there is a long list of european and american zoos, zoos from within regions with a program for this species, still waiting in line to even be given even a single animal for holding/display. so essentially i'de say theres planty of zoos with priority over ours at the moment... that said san diego zoos are usually quite generous with taronga...after all they gave us an indian rhino, bongo.... but we probably should never have given them koalas!! they bred so many that they essentially put our zoos out of business!!
They're so beautiful everyone wants them!!! Mind you, they don't do a lot. As Zoopro said, they eat 'leafy stuff' including fruit, vegetables and browse. They're normally kept relatively hay-free for health reasons. Nowadays they breed quite freely in the European and USA zoos that are lucky enough to have them and there's no trouble placing the offspring as there's still plenty of demand for any surplus. I'm not sure how well they travel though as they are rather timid creatures rather more delicate and stress-prone generally than Giraffe.
Chesterr Zoo were one of the last (if not the last) collection to obtain okapis for the forseeable future. If I remember, no new collection will be offered okapi for 5 years.
Because they are rare, and the zoo population is not growing much (the mortality seems to be pretty high), and for maximum breeding sucess, the EEP has set the rule that each holder should keep at least 2 pairs. The priority now is to increase the number of animals in those zoos who already keep them, not to increase the number of zoos who hold okapis. Bondorob, I think Leipzig may have recieved an okapi after Chester - old male Dibaya who died after less then one yera. Now they have a young male from Rotterdam.
Thats very interesting. Can you tell us how you found that out? Someone else posted that Woburn recently wanted Okapis but weren't successful? I imagine places like Edinburgh, Belfast and Paignton would be other Uk zoos which might want to exhibit them in the future.
From one of the senior keepers. Apparently Chester were offered several okapis but didn't have (and still don't) room for them. I expect the new male which is due this summer to be housed at the rear of the giraffe house, where the first okapi was held. The young female seemed eager to breed last year, but she is not considered old enough yet. A promising sign though.
I also heared that the breeding in the USA goes better (the population is growing faster) then in Europe. The main reason is thought to be the fact that US zoos hold at least 2.3 at every facility. Therefore i think Antwerp asked all the holders to increase their exhibit to be able to at least hold 2.3 animals.
Also I think you may find that the US have imported a few (captive bred) okapis from that breeding centre in the Congo (I think) in the last few years.
In Uk, Bristol could have a problem doing that- but certainly London have the space potentially to hold more than the pair they have at present.
They certainly have no room at the present location, but could hold several pairs at the new zoo they are planning. It will have a large forest zone. London do have room, so do Marwell.
