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L.A. Zoo Shows Off Adorable Newborn Baby Okapi
(Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Zoo)
The L.A. Zoo has a new baby it's finally ready to show off: a rare okapi. The zoo announced this week that a male calf was born on Aug. 26, but he was kept behind the scenes while he bonded with his mother and learned the ropes of his new home. The adorable, still-unnamed calf is the first baby for new mom and dad Baraka and Jamal.
“This long-awaited birth is particularly special because it's the first okapi we've ever had born here at the Zoo,” Los Angeles Zoo Director John Lewis, said in a statement.
The zoo received its first okapi in 2005, after trying to obtain one for more than 20 years. Jamal -- then 10 years old -- came to the zoo from Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Fl. Baraka arrived from the Denver Zoo in 2010.
Okapi -- often called the "forest giraffe" -- are shy relatives of the giraffe, with zebra-striped legs. They are native to Central African forests. Sadly, the wild okapi population has dropped from 40,000 to 10,000 over the last decade, according to the L.A. Zoo. There are currently only 85 of these forest creatures in accredited zoos.
Guests can see the okapi calf in his habitat from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. daily.
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