A rare okapi calf has been born at Rainforest Wild Adventure in Singapore, marking the first recorded birth of an okapi in Southeast Asia. The male calf was born on July 27 to first-time parents Kisala, 7, and Xandor, 4, at Mandai Wildlife Group’s wildlife park.
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The calf weighed about 20kg when it was first weighed a day after birth. Nearly two months later, it has more than doubled its weight to 48kg. The young okapi is being cared for with its mother in the Hidden Forest at Rainforest Wild Adventure East.
Okapis are an endangered species and are rarely seen even in zoos. Native only to the dense rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the animals are listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Habitat loss and poaching have contributed to a sharp decline in their wild population.
