today's entry : please welcome..... an oKaPi!!!
the zoo welcomed into the world a new baby okapi earlier this year, and she just made her public debut a couple of weeks ago! her name is m'bura (strikingly similar to the abbreviation for murfreesboro, which is m'boro...).
M’bura, an okapi calf revealed to the public at the Bronx Zoo last week after more than 18 months of delicate husbandry work, was stretching out her stubby zebra-striped legs before a crowd of young admirers on Thursday.
“It’s a zebra horse!” said Dagney Donaldson, 7, of Summit, N.J.
Not exactly. Okapis are the only known relative of the giraffe, but with the silhouette of an antelope. They are notoriously skittish, so adept at avoiding other animals in the wild — including other okapis — that Western researchers didn’t even document their existence until 1901.
To breed such an antisocial animal in captivity requires a mix of patience, genetic know-how and romantic savoir-faire. Potential mates are slowly and strategically introduced over weeks, and newborn calves — which do not defecate for the first month of their lives to avoid detection in the wild — are left untouched by humans to preserve the fragile mother-child bond.
So as M’bura, now a healthy 5-month-old, gallops around her shady habitat in the Bronx, zoo officials are taking a victory lap of their own. (via)ceeeeYUTE!! can't wait to meet you, murfreesboro!!
UPDATE! a video!
jes. us. christ. 0:18.
1 comment:
"which do not defecate for the first month of their lives to avoid detection in the wild" um... what?
#imeanyeatotesmetoo
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