What has the head of a giraffe, the legs of a zebra and the neck of a horse? It’s an Okapi.

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Okapis are the only living relative of the Giraffe and have similar characteristics such as horns on their heads, upright ears and long dark tongues. However, Okapis are not as tall as giraffes because their legs are shorter. A young okapi grows to an adult size after 3 years from birth. Okapis are about 5 feet tall, a male Okapi weighs between 440 to 660 pounds but a female can weigh up to 110 pounds more than a male. Okapi’s have purplish or reddish brown fur that feels like velvet and is oily so water slides right off and keeps the Okapi dry during rainy days.

Okapis are native to the rainforests of Central Africa. The natural habitat of an okapi is a dense and moist forest. They are hard to find in the wild and prefer to live higher altitudes.

Their life span is between 20 to 30 years in captivity. It is not know how long they live in the wild. Females only give birth to one baby at a time and a baby okapi is called a calf.

Okapis are herbivores that can eat between 40 to 65 pounds of leaves, twigs and fruits each day. They often travel up to a half mile a day in search of their food. Okapis use their long, strong tongues for stripping leaves from plants and twigs.

One of most special features of the Okapi is that they have highly developed hearing which in the wild alerts them to their enemies. Okapis are very gentle and their worst enemy in the wild habitat is the leopard.

Okapis:• prefer to live by

themselves• are most active in the

evening time. • are commonly known as

forest giraffes• have a dark tongue that is

long enough to clean its eyes and ears!