(Des Moines, IA) -- There's a new addition to the Des Moines Blank Park Zoo, an okapi. It's hind quarters and legs have stripes like a zebra, it's neck is long and slender. Visitors can see the two year old okapi in the zoo's Jamaa Kwa Africa habitat.
Keepers describe the okapi, named ‘Romakari’ as ‘chill.' They say he loves to browse and receive attention from keepers such as neck rubs and scratches behind the ear.
Several years have passed since the Zoo previously had okapi. ‘Romakari’ will spend his days with the yellow-backed duikers and blue cranes in the area next to the rhino habitat.
*source IUCN, Okapi Conservation Project, Association of Zoos and Aquariums*
Wild populations of okapi live in the forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and are typically solitary. Listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List, the population of okapi is decreasing and major threats include destruction of the forest for housing, agriculture, energy production and mining. One of the minerals mined in okapi habitat is coltan, which is used in electronics including cell phones. Blank Park Zoo requests you recycle your cell phone at the zoo in order to reduce the demand for this mineral to help protect the habitat of the okapi in natural areas. The median life expectancy of an okapi is 16.3 years.