HOUSTON – The Houston Zoo has put on display a baby okapi, a solitary species that in the wild is found deep in the dense rainforests of sub-Saharan Africa.
The male calf, who was born April 20 to mother Sukari and father Kwame, was named for Houston’s Mayor Sylvester Turner. The name Sylvester means “forest dweller.”
“Sylvester the okapi is slowly showing his personality,” a statement from the zoo read. “The calf has a lot of spunk and has already doubled his birth weight.”
Sometimes referred to as the “forest giraffe,” okapis have dark reddish-brown bodies that contrast with their legs which are white with brown stripes.
“Although easily confused to be related to zebras, because of their stripes, okapis are the only living distant relative to the giraffe,” the statement read. “The most prominent similarity is their large black tongue used for plucking buds, leaves, and branches from trees. They also use their tongues for grooming and can even reach their eyeballs.”
Okapis are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Zoo guests can view Sylvester the okapi with his family in the okapi yard, next to the bongo exhibit, each day until noon.
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