💥 TRENDING: Id/elieli - High Quality

The Okapi, or Okapia johnstoni is an ungulate that lives in the dense forests of The Congo. They are the only living relative of the giraffe, and historically came before the giraffe. They have shorter necks, but the same amount of vertebrae to their savanna cousins and are know for their similar tongues. The Okapi has a tongue of around 14-16 inches. On the top of the tongue there is a chemical called melatin (forgor how to spell it) which gives the tongue its distinct purple color and protects it from being sun burned. The okapi has stripes on its legs that are unique to them alone. These are called “follow me” stripes because calves can see them and follow their mothers in the wild. They are browsers, eating around 1,000 different types of leaves, and due to habitat loss, their numbers are dwindling. The okapi does have vocalizations, but the human nor the leopard can hear them at all due to their low frequency. However, we can hear them making a chuffing sound. Their bodies are brown to blend in with trees. They walk like giraffes, with two legs on one side moving at once. They have cloven hooves, meaning that their hooves are split into two, so they can travel across the forest. They have the ability to take their eyes in or out of their sockets to avoid them getting hurt from how dense this forest is. The okapi was not considered a real animal by science until the beginning of the 20th century, and was thought of a cryptid like Bigfoot or a unicorn or something like that for a long time. The male okapi has a pair of conical horns that kinda point backwards. Females have no horns. Okapis have the ability to rotate their ears in any direction for precise hearing. The female okapi is larger than the male. A female okapi will be pregnant for 14 months before giving birth to a child. Newborn okapis do not poop for two months. In the first two months of life, the okapi hide in a special spot where they meet their mother very little. They nurse for nine months and can live for about 30 years. Very little is known about them in the wild, so most information comes from captivity. Their coat is velvety and doesn’t fall in one direction. They have very very oily coats that keep them waterproof when it rains. The okapi is one of the many wonderful animals out there to explore, and the okapi conservation project is helping to protect them.