- Fact 2 - The color of the body is
chiefly reddish chestnut, the cheeks are yellowish white, and
the fore and hind legs above the knees and the haunches are
striped with purplish black and cream color
- Fact 3 - The Okapi was discovered
in the deep forests of Belgian Congo by the explorer Henry
Stanley.
- Fact 4 - In 1901 the remains of a
carcass were sent to London by the English adventurer Harry
Johnston, after whom the animal is classified (Okapia johnstoni)
- Fact 5 - The Okapi has a reddish
dark back, with striking horizontal white stripes on the front
and back legs. They have an oily, velvety coat of fur that
repels the water
- Fact 6 - The Okapi has a long
black-blue tongue, like the giraffe. The Okapi can even reach
their eyes and ears using their tongues!
- Fact 7 - The male Okapi has short,
skin-covered horns called ossicones
- Fact 8 - Okapi stats and
facts
- Weight: 200 to 300 kilograms (440
to 660 lb)
- Length: 1.9 to 2.5 metres (6.2 to
8.2 ft) long
- Height: 1.5 to 2.0 metres (4.9 to
6.6 ft) tall
- Habitat:
Rainforests
- Lifespan: 20 - 30 years
- Speed: Up to 37 mph (60 km/hr)
- Diet: Okapis are herbivores eating mainly
tree leaves, grass, ferns, fruit and fungi
- Fact 9 - The Okapi has a keen sense
of smell and hearing
- Fact 10 - Okapi are solitary and
extremely wary of humans
- Fact 11 - Males are known as bulls
and females are known as cows
- Fact 12 - Okapis are ruminants i.e.
they swallow their food initially and later regurgitate it for
chewing and swallowing it the last time. Ruminant animals, like
the Okapi, are even-toed, cud-chewing, hoofed, usually horned
mammals which have a stomach divided into four (occasionally
three) compartments
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