Before Kisala's calf arrived, his keepers at Singapore's Rainforest Wild Adventure made sure he'd have a cozy spot to hide. They built a snug little calving box in his mother's off-exhibit den, where he could snooze and nurse in peace. Baby okapis are born to hide, and in the wild, the little ones stay safe by tucking themselves away and keeping perfectly still.
The male calf was born on July 27, the first okapi born in Southeast Asia, according to the Mandai Wildlife Reserve. Now nearly two months old, he can go outside with his mother, though he's still getting used to it.
“We're allowing him to explore and build confidence at his own pace,” said Cecilia Tang, a curator of animal care at Mandai Wildlife Group, in a press release.
Why Okapi Calves Spend Their First Weeks Hiding
This baby doesn't have a name yet, but Mandai is asking the public's help in finding him one.
(Image Courtesy of the Mandai Wildlife Group)
A newborn okapi spends much of its early life hidden rather than following its mother. In the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a calf stays tucked out of view while its mother feeds, and she comes back a few times a day to nurse. Staying quiet and still makes it harder for a predator to notice.
Newborn calves are also believed to give off very little scent, Mandai said, which may make them even harder to find. When planning the calving box, Kisala's keepers borrowed from zoos that had already bred okapis successfully.
Explore All OptionsThat instinct is why visitors may not see much of him yet, even with the outdoor space open. Tang said Kisala “has been an excellent mother,” and the team is letting her calf settle in gradually. Spotting him through the leaves may take some patience.
Read More: Brevard Zoo's Giraffe Newborn Named Gail Takes a 6-Foot Plunge at Birth, Weighing Nearly 120 Pounds
How Singapore's First Okapi Calf Is Growing
The okapi calf and his mother
(Image Courtesy of Mandai Wildlife Group)
Kisala, who is seven, and Xandor, who is four, are both first-time parents. After the pair were introduced, keepers noticed changes in Kisala's appetite and body condition, and an ultrasound later confirmed her pregnancy. Okapis are pregnant for about 440 days, or 14 to 15 months, which is a long wait even for a hoofed mammal.
At his first weigh-in, a day after birth, the calf weighed about 20 kilograms, or 44 pounds. He has since more than doubled that to 48 kilograms, or about 106 pounds.
His striped legs might make you think of a zebra, but the okapi's closest living relative is the giraffe. The two share long, flexible tongues, and male okapis grow bony, horn-like bumps on their heads called ossicones, much like a giraffe's.
What the Birth Means for Okapi Conservation
(Image Courtesy of Mandai Wildlife Group)
Wild okapis live only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they're threatened by illegal hunting, forest loss, and human encroachment. The IUCN Red List lists them as Endangered. In 2021, IUCN said the wild population was unknown but might number only a few thousand. Congolese wildlife authorities and conservation groups work to protect okapis in places such as the Okapi Wildlife Reserve and Lomami National Park. The Okapi Wildlife Reserve alone covers roughly 5,405 square miles (14,000 square kilometers), showing the scale of the habitat these efforts aim to protect.
Kisala and Xandor came to Singapore through the EAZA Ex situ Programme, which coordinates breeding among zoos for threatened species. In 2021, IUCN described a managed population of nearly 200 okapis in human care as an assurance population.
Mandai is asking the public to help name the calf on its Facebook and Instagram pages. It says the choices are Imara, meaning “strong,” Mayaka, meaning “pearl,” and Kiah, meaning “dawn.” Visitors can look for him and Kisala in Hidden Forest at Rainforest Wild Adventure East, with Xandor in a separate habitat nearby. If the calf stays inside, a baby monitor streams a live feed from the den. For now, that feed may be the best view visitors get of him, resting in the hiding place his keepers built before he was born.
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
- This article references information from the Mandai Wildlife Reserve: Rainforest Wild Adventure celebrates the first okapi born in Southeast Asia
- This article references information from the IUCN: World Okapi Day
