Photo Of The Week: July 24, Okapi

This is the Okapi.  Although it may resemble a deer, or more obviously a zebra, the animal is most closely related to the giraffe.  The okapi lives on the continent of Africa, and is mainly found in the dense rainforest.  Because there is much rain in this habitat, the okapi's coat of fur is oily and water-resistant.  The animal is a herbivore, commonly feeding on grass, ferns, fruit, fungi, and tree leaves and buds.  Much of the food that the okapi eats is poisonous to humans.  The remarkable striping of the okapi's legs has two purposes.  The first is camouflage.  When traveling through thick grasses, the stripes merely appear as other blades of the grass.  The second reason is to help young okapis follow their mothers through the forest.  The striping is an obvious target that is easier to follow than a solid color.  There are currently between 10,000 and 20,000 okapis in the wild, and there are 154 okapis in zoos worldwide.