An 8-year-old okapi at the Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center on the West Bank is pregnant and will give birth to a calf later this year, an encouraging development for the shy and endangered species known as the "forest giraffe."
The Audubon Nature Institute made the announcement Saturday to coincide with World Okapi Day, which aims to raise awareness for the threatened species native to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The survival center, located on 1,200 acres of land owned by the city and the U.S. Coast Guard along the Mississippi River, has five Okapis who roam on 26 acres there.
Asili is now 14 months pregnant, and the father of her calf is 10-year-old Miraq, Audubon said. This will be his first calf. Asili gave birth to a female calf in 2022, though she was born with a untreatable congenital defect and only survived a few months.
"As with all newer mothers, the animal care team is monitoring this pregnancy closely and will be watching via a camera system, during the birth process to ensure the safety and health of both mother and calf. Now that Asili is an experienced mother, the team expects the new calf to thrive," the Audubon Nature Institute said in a news release.
Okapi are listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, Audubon said. They are the only living relative of the giraffe and are considered one of the world's oldest mammals. But because of their solitary nature and ability to avoid detection, scientists did not describe these animals until 1901 and, even a hundred years later, very little is known about them, Audubon said.
In the wild, okapi are threatened due to illegal hunting, mining, deforestation and other human encroachment on their habitat. Audubon said there is no accurate accounting of okapi in the wild, but their number is believed to have dropped by roughly 50% in the past twenty years, "making this pregnancy at Audubon extremely important for the survival of the species."
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Audubon has been participating in the Species Survival Plan for okapi, overseen by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums since 2017. The program uses the parentage and genetic information of animals at accredited institutions within the system to provide breeding matches that will keep genetic variation among the captive animals at healthy and sustainable levels.
Next week, Audubon is hosting the International Okapi Meeting. Conservation leaders from eight countries and 31 zoos will gather to discuss efforts to protect these endangered animals.